#cyber loki | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lusmeitli · 2 months ago

Text

But like of each thing that in season grows

Summary: How a kind gesture can lead to something more. One shot.

Pairings: Loki x Female Reader

Warnings: Christmas fluff, mention of off screen assault, some swearing, lots of snow, books, poetry, smutty smut.

A/N: Okay, look. It just wanted to get out. You’re thrown in without a warning, nor a floatie. Apologies for the liberties taken to interpret and manipulate characters to dance after my will once more. Obviously don't read if you're a minor.

9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9

The greatest ideas were conceived in the shower. That was a scientific fact.

You liked facts. You did not like uncertainties or speculation. The feeling of being in limbo was something that didn’t sit right with you.

So as you were in the shower, working the conditioner in your hair, the idea was just there. It was simple, humble, but beautiful. Your hands slowed and stilled. And then your mind rebooted and went at lightning speed, planning things out. You needed to write things down.

You stepped out of the shower hurriedly, towelling down your body, before realising that your hair felt different. Cursing, you stepped back under the water to rinse off the conditioner.

*****

You hated staff meetings. Particularly third Thursdays staff meetings, because they dragged on and on. The weekly mission reports were presented and Fury insisted on inviting some guest speakers. He called it “Horizon Thursday”.

In your opinion it narrowed rather than widened it. Today’s guest speaker was Quinn Harris, cyber security specialist. You suspected self-proclaimed, but you hadn’t bothered doing a deep dive on him.

You were sat on the increasingly uncomfortable chair, rows of employees in front of you, the Avengers at the very front. Rogers had delivered his usual military style mission report, the other members of his team trying to look alive, though you suspected Romanoff and Banner were asleep, as they were both donning sunglasses.

“What you need is a quantum computer and it’ll solve all your problems with encryption.”

“They might as well propose using block ciphers,” you murmured under your breath, turning the page in your book.

Meanwhile, a hand shot in the air at the front. “Excuse me, Mr Harris.”

The man smiled. “Mr Stark, do you have a question?”

“Well, not so much a question for you, but I would very much like the opinion of another expert on what you just said. You know, before anyone here thinks about investing in your product, which, let’s be honest, would be me. I’d like to be sure it’s the right thing.”

Fury rolled his eyes and sunk back in his chair.

There had been talk about getting that dude in? You must have zoned out for that part.

Harris’ face fell for a second, but he honed his features and forced a smile. “Of course.”

“It just so happens that we have an inhouse expert,” Tony got up and scanned the crowd. “Isn’t that right, Y/N?”

Everyone uniformly turned to look at you. Everyone.

You felt the moment one particular pair of eyes set on you. The amount of times you had spoken to one another had been limited to the missions you were needed on, for hacking. You’d had his voice in your ear a few times and it did things to your body that made you feel like a system overheat. You never really saw him during missions though as your job was very much office-bound.

Today, he wore the damn leather suit. Whilst Fury didn’t give a fuck, Rogers very much was all about the professional appearance of the Avengers. What you didn’t understand was why everything looked better on him. The black and green possibly was the best colour combination there ever was. The other day Bucky had worn a Slytherin pullover and even though it very nicely accentuated his physique, it looked nothing like the colours did on Loki.

You swallowed hard when you felt his eyes on you. They seemed to see right through you, even over the distance of the seven rows of chairs.

And then you felt the weight of all the other pairs of eyes on you. That was a lot of people. You gulped and pushed your glasses back up the bridge of your nose - a habit you couldn’t break.

“Y/N,” Tony called, bringing you back to the matter at hand. “Stand up and look at me.” His voice was gentle. “Start breathing again. Good. Now tell me what Harris is not telling me about the quantum computer.”

You adjusted your glasses again and cleared your throat. “It’s a solid proposition, I suppose,” you started, “however, one I would expect from a college freshman, certainly not from a cyber security expert specialist.”

Murmurs erupted, but you ignored them and rattled off your thoughts.

“Can a quantum computer crack asymmetric encryption algorithms? Yes. And yes, we all know that thanks to Shor’s algo the maths problems are only polynomial. Also, we know this applies to discrete log problems, too, therefore, all we’d need is a large enough quantum computer. Of course, he,” you gestured to Harris, “would have to build one first, which as you can guess is very costly. However, this entire presentation is based on the assumption that quantum computing is the end of asymmetric cryptography. And that is such a blatantly ignorant approach, with complete disregard for the safety of the members of our staff that are entirely reliant on the encryption cracking working on all their devices during operations and missions. And this whole quantum computer only works if you have a network connection.”

“So you’re suggesting there are hard problems that a quantum computer can’t solve?” Harris said, chin jutting out, arms crossed defiantly.

“Don’t be silly, of course there are,” you huffed. “I coded new post-quantum asymmetric encryption algos three years ago and tested them on several sites I am not authorised to disclose that have quantum computers. Not one of them cracked the simplest of those codes, in any of the over 5,400 attempts they ran over the past three years. So this presentation is… rather embarrassing in its sloppiness.”

“Well,” Harris’ lips were a thin line now. “I’m sure you have a ‘much better’ suggestion then?” He actually raised his hands to add the quotation marks.

“Actually, I do. I developed our own version of a quantum computer, at - and I’m only guessing here - a fraction of the price you’d charge Mr Stark, which can crack both symmetric and asymmetric encryption, works on all of our staff’s devices, portable and stationary, works offline and is about the size of, uh, a thumbnail.”

You pointed to your thumb, because in your humble experience men like him struggled to accurately size things.

Tony smiled and turned to Harris.

“Okay that concludes today’s meeting.” Fury got to his feet and patted Harris’ shoulder. “Looks like we’re good, but thanks for coming.”

People around you stood, some nodding at you as they passed. Tony caught up with you in the hallway. Before he could say something you blurted out: “Did I say something wrong? Was I rude again?”

He smirked and pushed the button of the lift. “He needed putting into place. Totally fine by me. You did great.”

“Stark!” bellowed Fury from down the hall and Tony winced.

“Excuse me, mother’s calling.” He turned and left.

You sidled into the lift with several other people. The cabin stopped a few floors up and people got off. That was when you noticed Loki on the other side of the lift. Up you went and after another stop you were alone with the Asgardian god. The cabin seemed to shrink.

You both watched the numbers climb, the lift hummed, Loki’s leather suit creaked softly as he crossed his hands behind his back.

“Could you please enlighten me about Shor’s algorithm?” he suddenly asked, looking at you.

You had a heart palpitation. Surely that was what it was. He was so impossibly tall and sculpted and… here.

“Um,” you pushed your glasses back up, “it’s a quantum algorithm for finding the prime factors of an integer.”

Loki’s face looked blank.

“It, er, essentially it finds the prime factors of large numbers a lot faster than conventional computers do. Which we use in encryption. The large numbers, that is. So it cracks codes faster.”

“Ah,” he said, head turning back to continue staring at the number display. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” you croaked out.

The urge to facepalm burned under your fingers, but you resisted. As soon as the doors slid open on your floor, however, you fled and sought asylum in the ladies’ toilets, banging your head against the wall of the stall.

*****

Operation Great Idea was in full swing.

So you’ve had a little personal setback, but that didn’t deter you from the objective. You had compiled a list, one you were confident was accurate based on your intel and research. That very list was neatly folded in the deep pocket of your coat as you walked through the cold rain on this late November afternoon.

Yes, you did something you’d never done before - take an afternoon off - and were trying to evade puddles on your way to the bookshop. Could you have ordered the books online? Most of them, certainly. But your late mother, an independent business owner, had ingrained in you to support local shops. You liked bookshops, they reminded you of her and of simpler times.

Your timing was excellent - of course you had researched when the shop was least busy - and you practically had the shop to yourself. And so you walked, dragging a pull-along basket behind you as you searched the shelves for the books on the list.

Sometimes, there were different editions there and you stood for a while, feeling the weight of each book in your hand, the feel of the embossed letters on the spine, the scent of the pages. You wanted it to be just right, so you took your time.

Some of the books you would only be able to get in a little second hand bookshop, tucked away in a side street. You had called beforehand and the owner lifted a box from under the counter to show you what she had reserved for you. As soon as your fingers made contact with the books you felt absolutely giddy.

Back at the Tower, you spent two entire evenings wrapping books after work. When you were finished, you leaned back, looking at the neatly organised stack. Yes, you were ready. Now all you needed was an exorbitant amount of luck for the next 24 days.

*****

You watched Loki stare suspiciously at the first parcel. He was sitting in the communal kitchen, Thor next to him.

“Why would it be hexed?” Thor asked. “Simply because the sender is missing?”

Loki just gave him a pointed look.

“Come, brother, aren’t you curious to find out what is in this gift?”

“Loki got a present?” Steve asked as he pulled a bowl out of a cupboard. “Did I miss his birthday?”

Before Loki could say anything, Thor shook his head. “He’s worried it has been tampered with.”

Roger’s brows furrowed. “How did it get into your possession?”

“It was on the floor outside my door this morning,” Loki complied, sighing.

“FRIDAY would have picked up on any foreign substances or intruders in the tower,” Tony said between gulps of coffee. “He now can detect traces of magic, too. ‘Course, he went apeshit over your magic, but we got it under control, eventually.”

“That’s what all this ‘Alert, alert, magic detected, caution advised’ blaring at five in the morning was?” Scott bustled in.

A slight tinge of red shaded Loki’s complexion. “I have to practise some time.”

“Thought you were born with it?” Scott interjected, helpfully.

This earned him a glare. “I was born with the aptitude for magic and sorcery. It takes a lot more than mere talent to achieve this level of proficiency.”

“Several centuries, in fact,” his brother supplied. “Now then Stark here says it’s safe. So open it, brother!” Thor clapped his hands together.

Loki indignantly and very reluctantly slid the parcel towards him and pulled on the simple string that held the wrapping together. The paper fell open to reveal one of the books you had picked.

From your vantage point of, well, your computer screen, you zoomed in to get a better look at him.

“Oh, a book,” you heard the onlookers muttering disappointedly, quickly losing interest and going about their business once more.

But Loki just sat, staring at the book. It took him a good few minutes to pick it up. And he did what you had seen him do many times before. He weighed it in his hands, fingertips running over the cover, the spine. Then he opened the lid. To anyone else it might not have been noticeable, but to you it was: he inhaled the scent of the book. And finally, there was the smallest upturn of his lips.

You exhaled, relieved. One down 23 more to go.

*****

Over the next week you were too busy testing the new firewall you had developed to check on Loki’s reaction. Sometimes you felt a little self-conscious, scared even that he might not like the books or think this was from a stalker. Which technically you had indulged in, stalking that was, but only to find the perfect books for him. And then sometimes you would get worried that someone else might have found the presents.

But you knew he had received every single one of them, for every evening, when you passed the common area you saw him sitting on the couch with the latest offering in his hands. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but it looked as if his tense shoulders had started to relax a bit.

Another couple of days went by and as the decorations started to pop up in the Tower and the first snow fell that didn’t immediately melt or turn to mush you felt happy. Perhaps it also had something to do with the fact that a certain someone walked differently. Maybe it was your imagination. But he seemed even taller these days.

*****

“Did it work?” you heard his voice in your ear a couple days later.

The data set was streaming on the screen in front of your eyes. “It did. Give me a moment to inject the virus, then you can disconnect the USB cable.”

“Can I still talk to you?”

Your fingers on the keyboard stilled for a moment, surprised. “Of course. The program runs through your phone, not through comms.”

There was a little pause, before he said: “I have a question. About a Midgardian tradition.”

You wrinkled your nose, scanning the code rushing over the screen. “I’ll try my best, but I’m rubbish at traditions.”

The audible outbreath sent shivers down your spine. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“What’s your question then?”

“Tell me about the Yuletide calendar.”

45% done. “You mean the Advent calendar?”

“Precisely.”

This was dangerous territory you were treading on. “Oh, it’s a fun thing for kids, really. To make the wait for Christmas a bit more exciting and I guess more bearable. It’s nice to get a little something like a toy.”

“Is it always toys?”

69% now. “Well, no. My mum used to get me an advent calendar that had these lovely drawings behind each door. I hung it up in the front room and we’d open it together every morning.”

“I suppose it’s a nice custom,” he said, before asking, “What about grown ups, do they have advent calendars?”

83%. “Sometimes. There’s all sorts: beer, wine, beauty products, chocolates - you name it, it probably exists somewhere.”

“Books, too?”

The question threw you, did he know it was you? A light was blinking on your screen.

100%.

“That’s it, Loki, the virus is uploaded, you can unplug the cable now and get out of there.”

“Thank you, Y/N.”

You heard a crackle and the comms was handed over to operations again. As you finished running the decryption programme on the data Loki had extracted, you kept hearing his voice in your head.

“Books, too?” Were you busted?

*****

Security breaches were both an insult as well as an admittedly welcome challenge to you. Someone had tried to flex their fingers - and you had a very good idea who - to break into Stark’s network. They had managed to pierce a little hole into the outer layer of the firewall, but they didn’t know that you had several back up plans in place and you enjoyed watching them work. However, as you scanned over the intruder’s code you devised a new security strategy.

You were in the middle of coding a nice little primer for a new layer - unexpected because of its simplicity, but a tough little nut to crack - when someone cleared their throat next to you. You looked up to find Loki, his eyes fixed on you. You blinked, looked around, but no one else was there, and back up at the god.

“Can I, uh, help you?” Smooth. You facepalmed internally.

“I realised I have never been in here,” he said, looking around the room, then back at your desk. “You have a lot of monitors.”

You waved your hand dismissively. “Just the standard three.”

“What are you doing now? Or is it a secret?”

“It’s not a secret at all. So we’re currently under attack. Relax,” she said when she noticed him tense, “cyberattack. Someone’s knocking at our backdoor, trying to see if they can get in.”

You motioned to one of your screens. “This is the intruder’s code. He’s trying out lots of keys to see if he can get in. And this,” you pointed to the screen next to it, “is our defence mechanism.”

“Extraordinary.” Loki’s low voice murmured. He was close. You turned your head and nearly had a heart attack at just how close. His sharp profile was illuminated by the blue glow of the monitor, his hair falling to his shoulders, one hand splayed on the desk, the other resting on the back of your chair. He looked beautiful. Perfect. He was leaning closer to the screen so he could see what was going on. Your breath hitched.

And then he turned his head.

Something that sounded an awful lot like a squeak escaped your throat.

Loki lifted an eyebrow. “Am I making you nervous, Agent Y/N?”

You pushed your glasses up your nose and leaned back, just an inch. “No?”

Loki’s eyes drifted over your face, before they met your gaze again. “Is that a question or a statement?”

“A… a statement,” you mumbled and, for good measure, added, “sir.”

His eyes darkened, a smirk curling the left side of his lips. “Are you scared of me?”

You tilted your head ever so slightly. “How can I be scared of you?”

“You’ve heard the stories, undoubtedly.”

“I did. And if I believed everything people told me and not looked beyond I would be incredibly shitty at my job.”

He smiled at that. It was small, but there, and it made him so attractive you felt your stupid heart starting to pound in your chest. Could he hear it?

“Do you like to read, Agent Y/N?”

Another adjustment of your glasses. “I do.”

“What would you say is your favourite book?” His voice was low and smooth.

His hand moved from your desk to the side of your face, where he gently pulled on a tendril, before he brushed it behind your ear. The back of his fingers skimmed your cheek for less than a second, but it sent you reeling. It was as if an electromagnetic pulse was slowly wiping clean your hard drive. You couldn’t think.

“Um, err, Jane.. Jane Eyre.”

He hummed. “I wonder why? Is it because she’s abandoned and rejected all her life?”

You shook your head slowly. “No. Because she’s forced to leave home, into a life she didn’t choose. But when she is given the freedom and space to grow she learns to be the master of her happiness.”

His eyes followed the curve of your neck and back up again. It almost felt as if he was touching you. “Interesting.”

You swallowed again, before he stood upright, nodded at you, turned and left.

Your heart was pounding. And then your computer beeped and your attention was back on the screen.

“Oh pants…” Your fingers started flying over the keyboard. “Not today, Harris. Or any other day.”

Nine more books to go.

*****

He was onto you. Of course he was. After all, he was the God of Mischief and Lies. If anyone would find out who was behind this, it would be him. Personally, the preferred outcome was that he never would find out.

You had asked yourself often over the last 18 days why exactly you wanted to do this for him. But that was just it. You really had no other motive than wanting to do this for him. Maybe because you sympathised with him, being stuck somewhere far from home, feeling lonely and not really integrated. Maybe you had projected your own feelings onto him a tiny little bit. Possibly considerably. However, it was done with the best of intentions. You wanted to make this nice for him. The run up to Christmas. A little bit magical. He must like magic, he was a sorcerer after all, wasn’t he?

So what if you had started dreaming of him at night. He would lean over you as you sat at your desk, in all his tall- and broadness. This time his hands would be touching you. And he’d lean in to whisper into your ear. Admittedly, not words you would necessarily associate with such a situation.

When you would wake up you knew where to place the things he said to you in your dreams. He’d said them to you during missions. And yes, “how much longer till the download is complete, Agent Y/N?” was not remotely as sexy as “I’m going to ravish you now, thoroughly” would have been, for example. But your brain only had so much to work with and it worked for you.

You noticed a few things, however. Loki was around more often, probably just a silly coincidence, or you had started to pay more attention. He looked at you now. You’d look up and find him already looking at you, sometimes a little smile crossed his lips, but mostly it was just something with his eyes, they seemed… warmer, maybe?

However, to your horror you discovered that you had started to blush. Every single time this happened. So you spent a lot of time in the ladies’ toilets, splashing your face with cold water, only to see it even more flushed than before. Apparently, all the books you had read lied about that ‘splashing your face with cold water to calm down and not make people notice’-thing.

But it all boiled down to the fact that he was onto you. Maybe he was humouring you and seeing where this was going. Maybe he had found out already and you made him feel awkward. Or he was waiting for the opportune moment to expose and humiliate you. You weren’t sure which.

Right now it didn’t matter. You were so tired you could hardly see properly anymore. So when you decided to crash on the sofa in the common room, because it was halfway to your room, you didn’t think to check if anyone was there.

That was mistake number one.

You collapsed onto the sofa with a groan, eyes closed, head leaning against the back of the sofa.

“Fuck. My. Fucking. Life,” you complained to the universe. “Can you please make the appendage of that misogynistic wanker fall off already? For fuck’s sake!”

Mistake number two.

Someone chuckled. It came from rather close to you.

Dread filled you. Foul language was not tolerated in the workplace. To be fair you could argue that the common room was not your workplace per se, however, you did not want to start arguing with HR because they were absolute savages in the art of word twisting. Or just savages full stop.

Carefully, you cracked your eyes open. And there, on the sofa right next to you, sat Loki. One leg was stretched out in all its glorious length, the other bent at the knee, his forearm resting over it, the book in his lap now closed, one of his slender fingers acting as bookmark. For a moment you wondered what it would feel like to be the book.

“I hope it’s not my appendage you’re asking to be removed,” he said with a smirk.

You grappled to sit up, horrified. “Of course not! That would be awful… I mean, a terrible thing to wish for… you’d… err… such a loss of such a beautiful… I mean, I can only guess… but… um, err… heavens, please make me stop talking…”

You hid your head in a throw pillow, wishing the floor would open up and swallow you whole.

Mistake number three.

The sound of a low, rumbly laugh made its way to your ears. It entered your system like a virus, leaving your limbs feeling weak and yearning. Was Loki laughing? You lifted your head and watched him, highly bemused at your idiotic display.

It was the most beautiful thing you’d ever heard. You felt a hard tug at your heart. Goodness, if this man wasn’t already a god, you’d have to declare him one. If he were the head of a religion you would throw out your atheist views and follow him to the end of the multiverse. He looked absolutely breathtaking. Then again, when did he not?

“I’m so sorry,” you started to apologise, “I don’t know what-”

With superhuman speed he moved and sat next to you, his finger on your lips. The feel of his digit on your mouth felt more intimate than any sexual intercourse you’d ever had.

And then he leaned in.

He was so close your cells were basically breathing him in. His eyes were locked onto yours and nothing would have been able to make you look away right then.

“Do you want to know what book I’m reading right now?” His quiet words did things to your insides that were not legal.

You just about managed to nod, his finger still in place.

“‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro. Do you know it?” He waited for your affirmation. “It’s about a man who is in love with a woman. But he doesn’t tell her. When they meet again after decades, she tells him her life would have been different if she had married him. And you know what he does? He still won’t admit his feelings to her. He walks away from her. The first time he lets her go, the second time he walks away.”

You remembered the book very well. You had picked it out for him, after all.

“It’s a cruel story, Y/N. A love that is never acknowledged, nor consumed.” Loki’s eyes drifted from yours down to your mouth. His finger slowly traced the outline of your lips. It was too much, your eyes closed.

“Do you think love is this cruel?” Loki asked quietly. You felt his words as he spoke them almost onto your skin. So close.

“It-it can be,” you whispered. “But maybe, maybe that wasn’t the point of the story.”

“No?”

You opened your eyes to find him looking at you. He’d moved away a bit, giving you some space, waiting for you to elaborate.

“Maybe the point was to show that he chose his job over love. Twice. You can call it dignity or pride, but at the end he’s alone. Without love.”

“What about you, Y/N? Do you have love in your life?”

You weren’t able to look into his eyes. Slowly, you got off the sofa. You turned back to him to respond to find he’d stood up, too.

You looked down at your shoes. His shoes were black, of course, polished, perfect, like him. Yours were several seasons old. Worn. A bit of the shoe sole had started to peel off at the top of your toes. The bit you always kicked into the floor when you worked.

Your eyes wandered up his trousers, black, to the belt, his pullover, also black. He looked effortlessly elegant, poised. You, on the other hand, looked a mess, even in your work attire. Your heart grew heavy at the realisation. Your dreams were stupid. Turned out your heart was even more stupid. And suddenly you felt incredibly small in more ways than one next to the tall, powerful god.

Swallowing a lump in your throat, you said: “I have known love, once. A long time ago.”

With that you pivoted on your heels and left, leaving Loki alone in the common room.

*****

Harris was an absolute tosser.

He just couldn’t leave things be. He insisted on trying to show you up, so he tried and tried to hack his way through your firewalls. Of course he had tried to hide his identity and it had made you chuckle, because you seriously had no idea how he could ever dare call himself a cyber security specialist if he covered up his tracks like a novice hacker.

In a way it was cute, but it was getting to the point of obsessive stalking and you frankly were rather tired of this little game by now. Particularly, since it kept you from your nice, warm, comfortable bed well past midnight.

However, Harris seemed to have changed tactics and started to badmouth you in the industry. Even Fury had called Tony and asked whether he should be worried, because Harris had dug up some hacking you’d done when you were much younger and much less ethical. Really it was unhinged, but everyone worked through teenage years in their own way.

You only knew this because you happened to be in Tony’s office and he had Fury on loudspeaker. Tony had pacified Fury without batting an eye, then hung up and asked if you’d be okay with him paying Harris a little visit, preferably as Iron Man. You had both laughed it off. But it bugged you.

So when you were on your way back to the tower from the compulsory (for all employees) counselling session and someone grabbed you, you weren’t surprised to come face to face with Harris. He didn’t lay a finger on you. No, he got two goons to do that for him.

Later, as you stumbled out of the lift and along the corridor, trying to make your way to your room, someone blocked your way.

“Speak of the devil! Y/N! We were just talking about you.” Tony. Other voices around him.

You kept your head down, thinking of how to get out of this unnoticed.

“We were just wondering if– Y/N? What happened?” You saw Tony’s hand reach out for you, but you flinched away.

Silence fell for a long moment.

Then a movement. Shoes appeared in your line of vision. You knew those shoes well. They had been on display on the couch for the past 22 days, attached to an Asgardian god.

He slowly held out his hand, palm up. An assurance, no harm. You gave the slightest nod. He moved the hand up and placed a finger under your chin so carefully you wanted to sob. The faintest of pressure had you lift your head to look up at Loki. His eyes scanned your appearance, stopping at your bruised hands that were trying to hold together your coat, taking in the blood splatters on the fabric, your busted lip, the lopsided glasses, the badly bent temple dangling off its hinge.

You never understood the expression ‘his features darkened’. You did now. Loki’s face transformed and you saw for the first time what a dangerous man he could be. Power radiated off him. You were glad it was not directed at you. His nostrils flared and you almost heard how much he was clenching his teeth.

“Names,” he ground out.

A hot tear rolled down your cheek and now that it started it didn’t want to stop. His eyes softened, something akin to vulnerability flitting across his features.

“H–Har…”

“Harris?” Tony asked softly. You nodded, still looking at Loki.

Loki rolled his lips in his mouth, his thumb swiping ever so lightly over the skin of your chin, before dropping his hand and walking to the lift in long strides.

“Nat?” Tony asked, the spy already by your side.

“Hold up, Reindeer Games!” Tony hollered behind you, as Romanoff led you down the corridor to your room. “I’m coming, too…”

It felt as if you were having an out of body experience as you were peeled out of your bloodied coat, your clothes and body assessed quickly but gently. She pulled out her phone after she ushered you into the shower.

“Tony? No forced intercourse, but lots of bruising…,” was all you heard before the hot spray of the water ran into your ears, blocking all noise out.

*****

Your glasses were fixed and you could see properly again. That was important, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to see Harris’ face on the news as he was escorted - handcuffed - from a courtroom and shoved into a police van, followed by the two goons who had helped him.

When you turned from the screen above the cashier, you saw Loki next to Tony across the canteen, looking at you. You walked over, clutching your sandwich.

“So, um… thank you,” you said, gesturing to the screen, “for that.”

Tony put a hand on your shoulder, squeezing gently, before his eyes gazed behind you. “Is that a double cheeseburger I see? Excuse me.”

And off he went, leaving you alone with the Asgardian god.

You shuffled your feet, studying the floor.

“Thanks again-”

“Are you okay?”

You both said at the same time. You laughed quietly, looking up at him. He smiled. You’d never seen Loki smile.

“I’m fine, thank you,” you said.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

You wanted to say so much more, do so much more, like hug him. But he was a god. You weren’t exactly sure what the protocol was for hugging gods. The awkward silence thickened.

“So, I’ll see you around?”

He was still smiling. “Yes. See you around.”

You were fairly sure you were blushing as you scampered off, back to your office.

*****

Bryant Park was one of your favourite places to be in New York. For one, it was right behind the public library - your heaven. For another, it was close to the Tower and you could wander the paths under the lovely trees. The park was very busy as it was Christmas Eve and people wanted to while away the time in the Winter Village until the big day. But as the ice rink closed down and the skaters came off, noses and cheeks red from the cold, the park started to empty.

You sat on a bench under one of the trees, gloved hands deep in your coat pockets, a woolly hat and scarf keeping you warm. Your head was tilted back and you watched the snowflakes dance and twirl in the cold wind.

“Y/N,” someone called.

Loki stood a few metres away from you, a black coat making him look even taller. He was not donning a hat or a scarf, he looked comfortable with the cold. The snow clung to his dark hair, a soft dusting was on his shoulders. You envied the snowflakes.

You got to your feet and he took a few steps closer, looking down at you.

“Were you enjoying the activities?” Loki asked, nodding to the ice rink.

“No, I just… I just like to sit here,” you said, feeling a bit silly. “I like the trees and the snow. It’s… peaceful.”

He nodded.

“How about you? Fancied a turn on the ice?”

He laughed and you watched the cloud mix with your breath. Now you envied your breath.

“Actually, I was looking for you.”

“Me?”

He took another step towards you. “Yes.”

“Why? Did something happen at the Tower?” Worriedly, you fumbled your phone out of the coat pocket and checked it.

A large hand covered it. You looked up. “Nothing happened. I wanted to talk to you.”

Nervously, you glanced down at his hand that still covered your phone. If you hadn’t been wearing gloves your hands would have had actual skin on skin contact. He dropped his hand to his side.

“Am I in trouble?”

He shook his head. “I… I wanted to thank you.”

“What for?”

His hand pulled a book out of his pocket. “For this.” He slid it back in the folds of his coat.

“Oh.” You didn’t really know how to feel or react. You knew he’d been onto you, so it was no surprise he’d sussed it out. He was, after all, the God of Mischief and Lies. But you had to give him kudos for letting it play out.

“Um, you’re welcome.” You bit your lip.

“You don’t know what this meant– what this means to me.”

It was impossible to look at him.

“I was dreading this time of year here on Midgard. But your incredibly generous advent calendar made it feel… like when I first visited here with my mother.” He grasped your gloved hands in his. “I miss her dearly, so thank you. For giving me this.”

You were too choked up to say anything, so you just nodded.

“Can I enquire what your reason was?”

It was so cautious, as if he was worried it might scare you off. And yet, the question threw you, most likely because you had been asking yourself the very same thing from the moment of its conception in your shower. It was just there, a need, an urgency you didn’t know where it came from or why it existed. It was something you had to do. Like breathing.

But over the course of the last few weeks, particularly the last few days, it had become painfully clear why you did it.

“I wanted, no, I needed you to be happy.”

He squeezed your hands gently. The tips of his shoes, his shiny, polished shoes, now touched yours.

“Please look at me.”

So you did. He looked different… vulnerable maybe.

“Why do you need me to be happy?” The question was another cloud and you breathed it in, let it fill your lungs.

“Because…” You were afraid to say it, to admit it. But something in his eyes made you courageous. Either that, or foolish.

“Because I watched you, during missions and in briefings and ops planning. You started to believe what they said about you. And it’s not true. There’s so much you don’t share, don’t tell them and I see it. It’s right there in your eyes. And I didn’t want you to lose yourself. And it’s selfish, I know, but I need you to be happy… because if you are, so am I.”

“If you think that’s selfish, then I am guilty of this notion, too.”

Loki raised his right hand to run the backs of his fingers over your cold cheek. “I knew after three days it was you. I wanted to see where this was going, what your motivation was. And I… when I saw you after Harris… I was filled with so much rage and fear. That I would lose you. Before I had you.”

He leaned his forehead against yours, you closed your eyes, heart beating out of your chest at what you were hearing. Was this a dream?

Loki’s voice was just above a whisper. “Can I? Have you?”

You moved away slightly to look into his eyes. “Yes.”

He leaned in, his hands splaying on your back, as you stood on your toes. The moment his lips touched yours, you felt a current run straight to your heart. It was as if your brain rewired, the missing piece of the primer clicked into place and unlocked everything.

Snow was falling as Loki kissed you under the tree. You didn’t hear the whistles and hollering of passerbys. You didn’t feel the cold wind. You felt elated, buzzing even.

“Your phone is buzzing,” Loki murmured against your lips.

“Hm?” you said dreamily.

“Your phone is buzzing,” Loki smiled, “someone’s calling you.”

Quickly you pulled out the damned device. Before you could even say your name, you heard Tony say: “So sorry for disrupting, Y/N, but we got a slight issue here that needs your expert skills pronto.”

You hung up, burying your head in Loki’s chest. His laugh rumbled in his chest. “We’ll talk more later.”

Breathing in his scent and holding onto him, you weren’t ready to let go. “Promise?”

*****

“Oh god, yes,” you sighed in absolute bliss. “That’s the spot, right there.”

Your groan sounded through the kitchen. You deserved that after three hours of extra work on Christmas Eve.

“Here?” Nat asked.

“Yes, yes! Please don’t stop,” you begged, putty in her hands, eliciting more noises from you.

“Maybe you should try yoga. Your shoulders and your whole upper body are so tense and full of knots. There’s a class I go to tomorrow at lunchtime, if you want to join me?”

“No time,” you murmured. “Heavens, Nat, what else can you do with those hands?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she teased.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Banner interrupted, grabbing Nat by the hand and dragging her to the door. “I’m happy to share my girlfriend’s masseuse skills for a severe case of muscle lock, but I’m afraid I have a personal request now.”

You opened your eyes to catch Nat winking at you, a slight blush on her cheeks as she was pulled out of the room. “So I’m your girlfriend now?” you heard before they disappeared down the corridor.

You laughed and turned in your stool. Thor, Scott and Loki stood staring. Thor at the ends of his braids, Scott at his fingernails, Loki at you. Eyes intense and dark. You swallowed.

“Y/N, a word, if you please,” Loki said, before wrapping his fingers around your wrist and marching out of the room, with you trying to keep up with his long strides, your coat and shoulder bag in your other hand.

He didn’t say a single word until you reached his room - it was closest - and the door shut behind you, locking the outside world out. He pushed you against the door, arm placed against the wood above your head, body leaning into yours, not quite touching.

“That was… a rather interesting display,” he remarked quietly, his breath puffing against your face as he spoke. “In future, I would prefer if your keening was reserved for me.”

Your hands found the buttons of his shirt. “That sounds like an exclusive right to me.”

“It most certainly is.” His lips hovered over yours.

Your index finger slipped in the space between two buttons. “A right that needs to be earned,” you whispered, your finger grazing his skin.

His breath hitched ever so slightly. “Do not challenge me, darling,” he leaned in, his body moving against yours teasingly. “It might be,” his mouth brushed against your earlobe, “too taxing for you.”

You scoffed, but his lips silenced you. His stance shifted as he picked you up and placed you on the nearest surface - a sideboard - and stepped between your legs. He broke the kiss, to cup your face. For a long moment he just gazed at you. The heat in his eyes seemed to intensify, turning you into a needy mess. He made a show of taking off your glasses, folding the temples and carefully putting them on the side board next to you. Your core clenched.

He held out his hand for you to hop off the furniture. You took it and he took to your lips.

It was quite possible that several things fell off on your way to Loki’s bedroom. When you pushed him into the wall to open the damned buttons of his shirt, a picture might have fallen. A vase, perhaps, when he picked you up and spun you around so your back was against the doorframe next to the fragile ornament. Your head hit the heavy frame of a painting, rendering it lopsided, when Loki feasted on your throat, and you tilted your head back to allow him better access.

Kissing, licking, nipping, sucking - he was intent on leaving marks. Your fingers somehow were in his hair, keeping his head in place. Soft, his hair was so soft. A sharp contrast to the teeth you felt pulling on your skin. His ministrations drew a long moan from you.

Loki smiled against your skin. “Yes, my siren, sing.”

Your back hit the mattress and he crawled over you. His hair a curtain, screening you off from the rest of the world in your own sacred space. His shirt hung open, your hands reached out, tracing each line, each dip. His tongue against yours mimicked the motion of his hips that rolled into you. Your legs wrapped around his waist, meeting each movement, as if you had practised this dance many times before. He pulled away to tug off your pullover. His fingers pushed up your bra and then he sucked your nipple into his hot mouth, making you arch your back.

“Loki, please.”

You didn’t really know what you begged for. More, probably. More of this, more of him.

He pulled you up so you both were kneeling on the bed. Shaking hands fumbled with clothes and fastenings and then you were both naked. Your breath hitched at his beauty.

“Can I…,” you started, voice sounding hoarse. You looked up at him. “Please let me worship you.”

Something flickered across his face - surprise? He gave a curt nod and then watched every single one of your movements.

You took his right hand, tracing each finger with yours, the veins on the back of his hands. You brought his hand up to your face, cradling it to your cheek, before kissing the palm of his hand. One finger at a time, you sucked it into your mouth, to the knuckle, your tongue swirling around the digit, before releasing it and pressing a kiss to the tip, before moving on to the next.

Your hands traced the skin of the inside of his arm, his veins, the rise and fall of his muscles, and up over his shoulder, across his chest to his left arm, which you gave the same treatment. Each birthmark, each scar was kissed. Your hands skimmed over his chest, your lips followed the path. Loki’s breath stuttered when you sucked on his left nipple, before you released it, softly blowing on it. It puckered. You bestowed the same treatment upon the other nipple.

“Please, lie down,” you whispered and he complied.

You lay next to him, kissing his forehead, your fingers running through his hair along his scalp, gently tugging. Onwards, to kiss the curve of each eyebrow, the bridge of his nose, his cheekbones, his chin, along his jawline to his ear. You felt his body shiver when you breathed: “You are so beautiful, inside and out.”

Then your teeth closed around his earlobe, gently pulling. A deep moan sounded through the room. Up until now he had let you do whatever you wanted to and not touched you. But his restraint waned and his hands splayed on your back, pulling you flush against his body. You kept going, your lips now worshipping his delectable throat. He tilted his head back to give you better access.

“Herregud,” he rasped as you kissed, licked and sucked on his sensitive skin. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard, his hands growing slack on your back.

You kissed the dip between his collar bones and worked your way down his torso, lips kissing, hands caressing. Further and further you went, along his abs, dipping in his belly button, following the trail of hair below. You leaned back a bit, to look at him. He was fully erect, heavy, swaying slightly. The purple mushroom head gleaming with pearls of pre-cum, thick veins running down the shaft to his pubic hair.

You licked your lips, curling one of your hands around his base, the other cupping his testacles. Then you looked up at him. He was up on his elbows, staring down at you hotly, biting his lips as he watched you in anticipation. You made sure to have and maintain eye contact and then you took him into your mouth.

He hissed, his head falling back, a loud moan following when you hollowed your cheeks to apply suction, the salty taste of his precum on your tongue.

You moved your hand up his length, still sucking, giving his testicles a gentle yet confident squeeze. Up your mouth went, your tongue circling his slit, before sucking him back in. The third time you did it, his hands clasped your shoulders.

“Stop.”

You looked up at him. Loki was breathing hard and you let his cock slide from your mouth with a wet ‘plop’.

In an instant your back was on the mattress and he hovered over you.

“Please don’t misunderstand,” he explained, voice rough, “I loved it, but I have plans.”

He settled between your legs, eyes locked on yours, hand on your thigh, pulling your leg around his waist. His hand slid up, splaying over the fullness of your ass, before giving it a firm squeeze, then sliding over the globe and dipping between your legs. When his slender digits made contact with your aching centre, you cried out. Your whole body was throbbing with need.

“All this nectar is for me?” he rasped.

You nodded.

“Oh, I have to see this.” And in one fluid motion he sat back on his heels, spreading your legs with his hands, looking at your dripping wet centre in amazement.

“Wait a moment,” he said, before he scrambled off the bed and disappeared in the corridor, only to come back a few moments later to resume his place between your legs. He handed you something with a smirk. Your glasses.

“I want you to see me.”

You put them on, your heartbeat accelerating. You bit your lip in anticipation. He looked up at you, his hot breath puffing against your wet core and then his flat tongue licked you all the way from your entrance to your clit. Your fingers fisted in the bedsheets, eyes falling shut in ecstasy, mouth open in a silent cry.

“Look at me.”

You did. He started a rhythm of licking, sucking and lapping that had the coil inside you wind up and tighten impossibly in no time at all. You fell back onto a pillow. Then he slid two fingers inside you and your hands dove into his hair, tugging, scraping.

What a visual. Loki between your legs, eyes burning into yours, humming and moaning against your clit, fingers sliding in and out of you, curling just at the right time, at the exact angle you needed. It was as if you were a book he’d read a thousand times before. Your toes curled and then you fell into the abyss. You moaned out his name over and over as the orgasm washed over you, leaving your legs shaking.

Loki moved up your body, placing kisses on your thighs, your tummy, your breasts, before he brushed some hair out of your face. You took your glasses off, he placed them on the bedside table. His eyes searched yours.

“I need you, Loki,” you managed, pulling him down.

He kissed you deeply, slowly, the taste of you on his tongue. His hips rocked forward and he slid inside you all the way to the hilt. Loki stilled and broke the kiss, resting his damp forehead against yours.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

Your fingers caressed his back. Unable to form words, you nodded. Then he moved. His hips rocked into yours in slow, deep thrusts. He filled you so well, stimulating places inside you you didn’t know existed. Your hands ran over his back, down his sides, making him shiver. He watched you, eyes dark but warm. One hand found your swollen clit and his fingers circled and rubbed, applying the pressure you needed to fall into oblivion again. Your feet pressed into his ass cheeks to bring him closer, deeper and his name fell from your lips over and over.

He rocked inside you as you rode out your orgasm. You opened your eyes to look at him in wonder. Never had you seen anything as beautiful as Loki. He seemed to glow from the inside. Maybe it was your imagination. You lifted your head, cupping his face to pull him in for a kiss. His tongue moved languidly against yours, savouring the intimacy.

Then he started moving faster, pulling one of your legs up to rest the calf against his shoulder. Deeper, you wanted him deeper. You couldn’t get close enough. His mouth was devouring yours in a needy kiss, all tongues and teeth now as he pistoned faster into you, your hips meeting each of his thrusts. His lips found your nipple, sucking, pulling on it, moving to its sibling. You couldn’t believe you were on the verge again already. Never before had you been able to orgasm more than once during intercourse.

The room was quiet but for the moans, the heavy breathing. You were so wet that your coupling’s noise was wonderfully dirty, edging you both on even more.

“Look at us,” Loki commanded and you did.

Nothing had ever been so erotic as watching him fill you, stretch you, sliding out, covered in your juices. His fingers were on your clit again, rubbing, circling.

“I don’t know if I can…”

“One more, darling, give me one more,” he insisted, breathlessly.

His hips moved faster, as did his fingers and you were there, on the edge. Loki’s eyes met yours and he knew. His movements stuttered, pupils fully blown, jaw slack, a drop of sweat sliding down his temple.

“Cum with me,” you whispered, your fingers dragging down his back, possibly breaking skin, squeezing and pulling his ass into you.

And he did, propelling you into bliss with him. Your name fell from his lips in a string of Norse profanities. His cock pulsated as the hot ropes of his seed marked your insides as his, your pussy eagerly clenching around him, making sure every last drop would be spent inside you. His movements slowed and then he stilled, buried inside you.

Loki’s lips pressed onto yours in a tender kiss. You stayed in the embrace until you both caught your breath. Then he pulled out of you, your mixed juices running out of you. He could have cleaned you up using magic.

But Loki got out of bed, got a wet flannel from the bathroom and gently cleaned you, kissing your tired body, before sliding back into bed. He pulled you into his arms, your hands joined over his heart, legs intertwined and you both lay there, in your bubble of utter and complete happiness under warm covers, watching the snowflakes dance outside the window in the early hours of Christmas Day.

Christmas Day!

“Oh, wait here!”

You scrambled off the bed and ran to the door, forgetting about your nakedness, pulling your shoulder bag from under your coat. You pulled something from it and brought it back to Loki. He was sitting up, forearms resting on his knees, an intrigued look on his face.

“Merry Christmas,” you said.

He looked at you and then at the present you held out to him. He cocked an eyebrow as he took it and pulled the fabric ribbon off. His hands parted the paper and then he grew completely still.

“Where in the nine realms did you get this?” he asked after a few moments, voice sounding rough.

“A friend of mine got her hands on this a while back. I thought you might like it.”

He stared at the book, transfixed. His slender fingers caressing the embossed letters on the front and then he lifted it to take in the scent of the pages. His eyes closed.

“Do you? Like it, I mean?” You were worried about this book. It had cost an arm and a leg, but you thought it would be worth it.

“Like it?” Loki asked, finally looking at you and pulling you on his lap. “My mother used to read me his poems when I was a child. I rediscovered it later. This is…”

He was searching for words, failed to find them and instead kissed you, hard, hand fisting in your hair. After a long moment, he broke the kiss.

“Thank you, love.”

Your fingers wrapped around his wrist, stroking his pulse point.

“Will you read it to me?” you asked, a bit out of breath.

Nodding, he sat against the headboard, you curled up against him with his arm around you. He made sure you were both tucked under the covers. Then he opened the book and cleared his throat.

“Kormákr Ӧgmundarson ‘Sigurðardrápa ‘Drápa’. This is one of my favourites, he wrote it for the love of his life.”

His fingers wandered up your arm.

“Brunnu beggja kinna

bjǫrt ljós á mik drósar,

oss hlœgir þat eigi,

eldhúss of við felldan.”

His digits absently stroked your ribcage, skirting over the side of your breast. The rhythm and intonation of his deep voice made you clench your thighs.

“Enn til ǫkkla svanna

ítrvaxins gatk líta,

þrǫ́ muna oss of ævi

eldask, hjá þreskeldi.”

He paused, closing the book and brushing his lips against the skin of your neck. Your eyes fluttered shut.

“What-what does he say?” you all but stuttered.

Loki kissed along your collarbone. Humming against your skin.

“The bright lights of both

her cheeks burned onto me

from the fire-hall's felled wood;

no cause of mirth for me in that.”

His hands cupped your breasts as he sucked and teased one of the nipples. Your hands tugged on his hair, desperate for him again already. You felt his need hard and heavy against your thigh.

“By the threshold I gained a glance

at the ankles of this girl

of glorious shape.”

Loki moved to lie between your legs, hands sliding over your breasts, your tummy, your thigh, down to your ankle, lifting it to wrap it around his hips.

“Yet while I live

that longing will never leave me.”

His voice faltered as he rocked his hips forward and your bodies were joined once more.

“That longing will never leave me,” he repeated like a vow, eyes serious and warm.

“Nor me,” you pledged, before you lost yourselves in the physical expression of your feelings once more.

~ fin ~

#loki x reader #loki laufeyson #loki #mcu loki #loki x you #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki x reader smut #loki smut #snow

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imaginative-joy · 2 years ago

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Sales are continuing this week for Cyber Monday!

Shameless self-promo for the beginning of holiday sales for my shops!!!

This sale lasts from November 18 - November 30 for both my Etsy and BigCartel shops. The shops are currently open, but expect some more goodies to be added on Friday!

⭐️ Use code cyber2022 on Etsy to get 15% off purchases of $5 or more

⭐️ Use code cyber2022 on BigCartel to get 15% off all purchases (BigCartel has some exclusive “big ticket items,” hence the slightly different sale!)

IMPORTANT SHIPPING INFO: My BigCartel is not set up for international shipping. If you’re looking to purchase something on my BigCartel and ship outside the US, send me a message and I can make special arrangements for you!

Nearly all the art and crafts you can find on my blog here will somehow be available in this sale! So if you’ve been wanting a certain print, keychain, book, craft, or anything else you’ve seen me make, now’s the time to claim it!

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iavulture · 5 months ago

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(Long post with some spoilers) Something fascinating about a sidequest in CoV

I know that I haven't been posting screenshots of Demon Haunt convos as frequently lately, but that's because I've been pushing through the game quite a lot to the end. Don't worry, though, for those who like them, they're still coming around as I make progress.

Anyway, I've been fascinated by this subquest, and it's not only because of the worldbuilding bits in regards to the demon summoning program as it's portrayed in SMTVV. As seen above, the game does acknowledge the use of technology in relation to the demons, and that the humans essentially have to do some things the old-fashioned way i.e. not going digital and using paper for security measures.

But what this researcher/sidequest giver says next is even more interesting, as seen in the next screenshots.

Some spoilers ahead for the novel series Digital Devil Story, which the MegaTen games are originally based off of! Read on if you don't mind and want to know my thoughts.

So you've decided to read on. Here are my thoughts on this:

Believe it or not, I love how this (possibly) relates to the very beginning of the SMT franchise, specifically Digital Devil Story. For those who don't know, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei is the first novel of a trilogy by Aya Nishitani. Want a summary? It's about a genius highschooler named Akemi Nakajima, who develops the Demon Summoning Program to get back at his bullies (it's... complicated). And as future MegaTen installments are wont to do, things go horribly wrong as the program summons Loki and the Norse god wreaks havoc and kills people (and also... forces himself onto one of Nakajima's teachers and attempts to do the same to new transfer student/love interest Yumiko Shirasagi). In fact, Nakajima's actions end up causing the events of the rest of the trilogy, along with the events in the New Digital Devil Story hexalogy, which is a sequel series to the trilogy.

2. Continuing from #1, there's the name mentioned by the researcher: Atziluth. This is the name of the place where demons live and was first mentioned in Digital Devil Story (and in Strange Journey compendium entries); the games call it by other names such as Makai/the Expanse and the Netherworld/Da'at.

3. "Essentially, we perform pseudo-summons through computers to transmigrate demons into this world." This is pretty much what Nakajima does with the Demon Summoning Program, in that he used a computer with the program to summon Loki. For additional context, one should know that besides being a programmer, Nakajima is also an amateur magician, and previously came to a revelation that magic and programming are similar in that they had exact steps/algorithms that needed to be followed to produce a desired result.

I can only speculate as to how people in V's world came to have such tech, but my guess is that Bethel researchers at the very least had a hand in it, as Bethel is the one distributing phones with the DSP to people like Ichiro Dazai and Yuzuru Atsuta. If people can use phones to summon demons, why not through computers as well, just like how Nakajima did it with Loki?

To end this post, I just want to say that I like this worldbuilding in Vengeance. From what I understand, Atziluth sort of reminds me of the Digital World in Digimon, in that it's a place where monsters reside and can be taken into the human world through the use of technology. In fact, I'm reminded of what happens in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth/Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory (which, btw, are great games and aren't exactly for kids, unlike much of the rest of the Digimon franchise).

Here's a link to an hourlong video by Marsh explaining the novel series: Demystifying Digital Devil Story - YouTube

Anyway, long post over! I certainly wanted to write something after a long battle against a certain fly and needed a deserved break. I hope you enjoyed it and learned a few things.

#smt #shin megami tensei #shin megami tensei v #smt v vengeance #megaten #digital devil story #long post #spoilers for digital devil story megami tensei

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thatliminal-wanderer · 9 months ago

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Pest (Regretevator) ID Pack

Requested by Anon

Names:

Abby, Allo, Anthony, Ashitaka, Atlas, Ava, Avaria, Avarice, Avaro, Avaron, Avidus, Bagu, Cache, Cassius, Chip, Chompers, Claire, Covet, Crassus, Cupidon, Dorcus, Elytra, Faust, Gaichū, Hax, Helix, Jasper, Jin, Judas, Kairos, Kianu, Loki, Lucanidae, Lucas, Lucrezia, Mammona, Mandy, Maria, Melody, Midas, Miillaaraq, Neo, Ombretta, Otis, Plutus, Quinn, Ram, Stag, Talus, Tresoro, Trog, Zat, Zorro

Pronouns:

beet/beetle/beetles, bug/bugs, byte/bytes, chitter/chatter/chatters, clack/clacks, click/clicks, code/codes, cog/cogs, cyber/cybers, gear/gears, greed/greeds, make/maker/makers, mand/mandible/mandibles, pix/pixel/pixels, power/powers, tech/techs, wing/wings, ⚙️/⚙️s, ⛓️/⛓️s, ❗️/❗️s, 💬/💬s, 💰/💰s, 💵/💵s, 🔌/🔌s, 🔩/🔩s, 🧲/🧲s, 🪙/🪙s, 🪲/🪲s

Titles:

A Reluctant Party Guest, Party Guest, The Bug That Likes to Build, The Bug in The Party, The Bug-like Guest, The Chattering Beetle, The One Who Resembles A Beetle, The Quiet Beetle, The Thieving Bug, The Tinkering Guest, [prn] Who Tends Likes to be Alone

Genders:

Abstratechgender, Beetlefreak, Beetlething/Beetlebeing/Beetlebitch/Beetlemotherfucker, Bugboyic, Bugsoundic, Bytegender, Chaosbitch, Circuitgender, Codewizlexic/Techwizlexic, Greedfilled, Guestgender, Robotcreation, Wirecoric

Other MOGAI:

Bugdernic, Bugperspesque, Cimexivior, Coderjobstelic, Regretevatorhearthic

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asexual-cryptid · 2 years ago

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It’s not fair how hard the Mechanisms go?? War Hero Snow White? AI Frankenstein’s Creature? “Also he fought a bear”? The Toy Soldier? Inspired by classic music with cyber/horror vibes? Not to mention their awesome queer rep? Poly King Arthur? Trans Mordred? Femme/Gay Loki? Ulysses? Lesbian Cinderella? Trans(?)Orpheus? The whole crew and personas of the Mechanisms? The entire intro of UDaD? I just love them so much.

#the Mechanisms #I love them #mechanisms

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marshmellopie · 10 months ago

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YOU THERE

Give me your spamton headcanons! Any kind!

loki i love you so much you don't know how much i've been wanting to share my headcanons oh my GOD [scans over my 20+ page headcanon doc]

putting it under the cut because it's a lot of random stuff, i didn't categorize anything so there might be whiplash between everything:

– Five feet tall, previously 5'10 when he was still an Addison. I made Puppet Spam was 4'5 for the longest time, but I decided to say fuck it and make him taller. Still short in terms of Cyber City residents though, I like to imagine normal Addisons are around 6ft.

– I sometimes forget to draw it and I can't really animate it consistently, but his knuckles are constantly bruised because he keeps punching things whenever he's angry. Experiences really severe temper tantrums/outbursts and usually resorts to violence.

– Do not touch his fucking hair if he doesn’t know you. He’ll legitimately plan your murder if you cut any of it off– and that’s not a hyperbole. He can’t grow it back and his hair is his pride and joy, so he will genuinely track you down and rip your goddamn soul out of your chest. It's also permanently black (besides the grey but that's from stress), he changed his coding when he was famous to have black hair. Could've been reversible, but some things kinda stuck after he fucked himself up and became a doll.

– Weird mixture of Addison and mannequin. Mysteriously fell incredibly ill with a virus that was destroying his coding after his phone went dead silent, and became desperate to the point of converting his remaining data into an inanimate object. Kind of like converting a PDF into a JPEG with the compressed quality and all. Kinda iffy with this one and not really canon-inspired, I swap between him gradually and suddenly turning into a puppet. Used to base it off the Acid Theory but I'm tryna be creative sjfkdsjf he did probably fall in/get pushed a few times but it didn't burn him to the point of no return, it definitely stung though

– Blurry vision in both eyes because he had the audacity to peek into the Shadow Crystal multiple times. Hacked his glasses to somewhat correct it, but it only works to a certain extent.

– Talks through a voice box. He really doesn't need to move his mouth at all to speak and has limited range of motion (he can't close his mouth all the way and has no tongue), but he tries to purely out of habit.

– gayest man in cyber city

– Eats basically anything. From spaghetti-code to cardboard, his body is kind of forced to digest all of it, but it obviously hurts him if it's not supposed to be eaten.

– Sometimes doesn't recognize his own reflection.

– Riddled with viruses for so long that he probably wouldn't ever be able to get rid of them. He could probably minimize them if he got treatment, but only to an extent. They're a permanent part of him now.

– His nose is simultaneously the strongest and weakest part of his body. Either pierces through metal or bends like a bendy straw depending on if you throw him or just lightly poke it.

– Terrifyingly amazing aim. Can throw a pipis at a specific target without much thought. His pipis explode.

– Calmed down a bit as the years went on (because he lost hope LMAO), which isn't saying much considering he's still extremely rabid. Was extremely volatile when he first decided to give up the good life and live in the dumpster. Frequently tried to break into the mansion, probably stole a few cars, mugged a few Plugboys, picked fights with other malware on the streets. He still continues to do these things, of course, but to a lesser degree.

– Spiteful cunt. Wrong him once and he'll never forget your name. Rarely apologizes even if he's in the wrong.

– Can't say names properly unless he's being completely serious.

– Upholds his end of most deals, but words himself carefully so that if what he has to bring to the table isn't up to par with what the other person asked of him (which is 99% of the time), he can easily swindle his way out of it. No refunds on the sword. It's broken? I told you that. Cut anything, two pieces. You heard me clearly, and you obviously had no qualms with it from what I could tell. (Except he'd say that in a really fucked up and more condescending way.)

– Constantly hears static, but it grows and fades depending on his mood.

– Laughs at the most inconvenient times. Someone's threatening him? He'll chuckle. He's nervous? A little giggle. He just received some devastating news? Roaring laughter.

– Very unreliable narrator and storyteller. Tends to exaggerate things that have happened to him (doesn't mean that he didn't go through some wild shit though).

– Doesn't celebrate his birthday, for obvious loneliness and conflicting self-resentment reasons. Also because he doesn't keep track of the time. He don't know what day it is fam.

– Can mimic voices really well, though he still retains that bitcrushed/noisy overlay and the ad pop-ups.

– Tends to chew on things occasionally as a nervous habit. He doesn't exactly have a tongue, so he instead picks up random small items scattered around (ie. a pencil) and chews on them. Worst case scenario he just grinds his teeth together.

– Gestures with his hands a lot when he speaks. It literally looks like he's going through an emote hotbar. Also very expressive when it comes to his face, despite rarely being able to frown properly. You can garner a lot about his mood from his glasses.

– Mostly bark over bite. Tends to make empty threats a lot when he's startled in hopes his loudness will be intimidating, but will indeed bite if he needs to… or wants to. Sometimes there’s no bark at all, and he’ll literally bite.

– Has a weird fascination with shiny objects. He steals many things that seem valuable or visually appealing and hoards them in his shop.

– Once you put the KEYGEN into NEO, it takes a little bit for him to actually take over the body because he's transferring his data onto it. Permanently. Even when he becomes small Spamton again, he's permanently linked to the machine now, so he can change into it at will. Technically not at will because he has trouble controlling it, but you get what I mean.

this was insanely long but thank you for letting me ramble <3

#[PRICE SPEAKS]#spamton... my salesman...#despite usually drawing him happy i assure you he's like. really fucked up #i don't draw angst much but only because it comes out looking weird for some reason #i think i should make him cry #spamton #deltarune

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olet-lucernam · 7 months ago

Text

A Hollow Promise [27] chapter vi, part iv

{_[on AO3]_}

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

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

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

And this changes things.

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

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

chapter summary : astrid gathers her allies, and draws the attention of her enemies. loki pays a heavy price for a victory.

recommended listening : what you waiting for?, gwen stefani

tag list: @femmealec @mischief2sarawr

[PREVIOUS] | [MASTERLIST] | [NEXT]

54 weeks and 1 day out

“Sir. We have movement.”

Tony felt the lines of his spine and shoulder blades pull straight, almost reflexively, swivelling into motion at his holographic worktable like a well-oiled gear.

He was going on a self-imposed work diet- an attempt to rebalance, after living in his work for the past few months, building and breaking and remaking in an endless beta-testing phase, a Sisyphean attempt to patch every vulnerability he could imagine- but it had been pushed back, under the circumstances, and he had rationed out enough time for him to deal with the situation, before starting the full detox.

“Where are we, J?” He asked, with a casual upwards flick above the table.

The gesture summoned a hologram above the desk: an architectural scale model of the Tower, crafted in vitrified blue light.

“There is some unusual activity near the roof.”

The area in question turned orange on the three-dimensional map, zooming in for an exploded view of the topmost two-dozen floors.

Tony had remodelled the top of the Tower, after the Battle of New York. Damage had given him the excuse, and the team had provided the reason. Repaired and restructured, several stories added to its height, the broad, smooth curves and open layout modelled after his cliffside home in Malibu were scrapped, the exterior cleaner and sharper- streamlined, from the slanted crown of its roof, through the convex glass-faced layers of the penthouse floors, to the landing pad extending out into the open air.

Locals had taken to calling it Avengers Tower. None of the roster aside from Tony had taken up residence yet, but they all agreed that it was a good base, and Tony kept the personal suites ready for whenever they might need to drop in.

The luminescent A badge shimmered on the side of the building, level with the landing pad. Just below it- within the three floors dedicated to Tony’s private laboratories, workshops, storage, and fabrication facilities- a red diamond marked his current location.

“Surveillance feeds and motion sensor detectors are offline,” JARVIS announced, highlighting the locations in a chain, “as are the door sensors.”

Tony visually tracked the path that it created.

It led from the roof access, into the emergency stairwell, before terminating at the door into Thor’s suite: no more and no less than would be needed to gain access to the building.

It was more than twenty floors above him- a distance that would take several minutes to traverse. He had time.

“You locked out, buddy?” Tony asked quietly, summoning his touch keyboard with a sweep of his palm. “Or are they trying to be subtle?”

“Neither, sir. As with the first occurrence, this appears to be a mechanical failure, not a cyber-attack.”

His gaze narrowed briefly, jaw moving.

Somehow, that was both more and less plausible than JARVIS being hacked.

“Shall I prepare to go into lockdown protocol, sir?” JARVIS proposed. “It should be possible to isolate intruders to one of the penthouse floors, once they are inside.”

Tony contemplated the offer for only a heartbeat.

“No. Clear the way down for her, J,” he decided breezily. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”

There was a brief, audibly judgemental pause in the response time.

“As you wish, sir.” Tony could hear the mild disapproval and concern behind his AI’s cool, crisp tones. “Shall I at least stand by with security protocols?”

“Doubt we’ll be needing them, but- feels like this one’s got a few fireworks up her sleeve.” He conceded blithely, pre-empting the reproach about putting himself at unjustifiable risk. “Alright. Safety off, but finger off the trigger.”

Tony turned in his chair, scanning the room. The workshop was cluttered with a rich confusion of half-finished projects, both metal and digital, strewn across screens and surfaces between discarded coffee cups and various tools.

“And clear the decks, J. Window Dressing Protocol.”

At the command, the screens cleared.

Detailed blueprints and test data were replaced with generic schematics and randomised code, like cellophane pasted on a device fresh out of the box. They reflected in the wall of glass that faced the length of the room- diluted against the dark hallway beyond.

With a gentle swipe, Tony dismissed the render of the Tower.

Rising to his feet, he slid the rolling chair aside, summoned a program and began typing, looking to all the world like the very image of productivity and genius at work.

He wasn’t kept waiting for long.

A gentle rap of knuckles sounded on the reinforced, shatter-proof glass.

Tony’s head snapped up.

The girl whose real name definitely wasn’t Alethia waited just outside, painted like day in the light spilling from the workshop.

She was dressed for the winter night, a New York romance in a soft black sweater and jeans the colour of dried roses, champagne hair pinned in in a braided coil, emphasising a pretty set of cheekbones and long eyelashes. Backs of her knuckles still raised to the glass, snow-dusted and pleasantly windswept, she tipped chin down slightly in greeting.

She looked better, Tony observed. Her skin was clearer, her eyes brighter, expression smoother- less tension-soured, less angry, and more like the person that she had sounded like, aboard the Helicarrier.

Without looking, he tapped a command into the control panel.

The electronic lock switched open with a heavy snap.

Alethia turned the handle, stepping inside, flawless and measured.

“Dr Stark.”

There was a low thrum in her voice, as though cautiously pleased to see him.

“Not-agent.”

Tony’s reply was blandly jovial. Shunting the lines of code aside, he stepped away from the workbench, one hand tucked into his pocket. He had remained outfitted in dark sweats and a gym shirt, standard gear for the workshop, but his posture was that of when he was in a three-piece suit and a boardroom- eyes fixed on her face, chin tilted up slightly, sizing her up with an air of casual challenge.

To her credit, Alethia remained unaffectedly at ease.

It had reminded him a little of Pepper- but not by much.

Virginia Potts was like a ceramic knife. There was a deliberate poise to her, born of a consciousness of her disadvantages in the industry, a refusal to be anything less than a worthy player of the game; she was everything prim and correct and refusing to be intimidated, the result of thousands of observations and lessons learned and choices made, constructed into a statuesque, pleasantly intimidating facade.

Alethia reminded him far more of someone else.

Tony had realised it when she was leaning over the Tesseract transport device, her voice focused and softly mirthful.

Relax. I have steady hands.

For a moment, he had been hurled back in time. He had tasted metal, and dust, lung tissue still burning from the water with each breath, the heat of the forge at his back and the dim cold of the caves at his front, the weight of a car battery slung over his shoulder, and a pair of lean hands- Yinsen, sure and calm and steady, mild-mannered yet ruthlessly insightful, guarded and tired and yet earnest- pouring molten palladium into its cast.

Relax, he had chided Tony gently, tilting the long handles of the tongs, inclining the lip of the crucible over the mould. I have steady hands. Why do you think you are alive, ah?

After removing it from his chest for the second time, Tony had quietly returned the first miniaturised arc reactor to the display mount that Pepper had commissioned, sealing it back in glass.

It was still powered by that delicate ring of palladium, poured by steady hands under a mountain in Afghanistan.

With a steady sweep of her lashes, Alethia looked past Tony’s shoulder, at the screen display where he had been typing.

Her head tilted.

“Was there any particular reason that you were translating the lyrics of ABBA’s Dancing Queen into base64?”

Huh. Well.

Tony had more or less expected that she would see straight through the chains of randomised letters and numbers, like an awl punching through leather, but- the casual quickness was a little disorientating. It was like expecting a card trick, and getting shoved into a swimming pool instead.

“Everybody needs a hobby,” he said, bald-faced and shameless.

“Mm.” Hazel eyes flicked to his, warm as vanilla and laughter. “I’ve heard worse.”

They trailed into silence.

“Ran a trace, on the phone number you left,” Tony admitted boldly. “Before I called.”

Alethia smiled slightly.

“Ah. Were you disappointed?”

“I think I’d be disappointed if it was that easy.” Tony decided, circling the desks, feigning distraction. Alethia was missing a coat that would make sense for the cold. Her nails were trimmed neat, without polish. The only traces of makeup were a swipe of soft black kohl at the corners of her eyes and the sheen of lip balm. Practical, yet impractical. “Complete no sell, though. Impressive. That SHIELD tech?”

The corner of her mouth pulled up further.

“No.”

“You still with them?”

“If I ever was, I’m not now.”

“So you’re a free agent?”

“Free not-agent.”

“How long?”

“Is this an interrogation?”

“I mean, I’d call it due diligence, but I’ve got a pair of cuffs somewhere, if it’d make you more comfortable.”

Alethia’s smile bloomed into a brilliant grin.

“Didn’t think you’d be into that, Dr Stark.”

She sobered slightly, clear as glass.

“Ask me what you want to know. I wouldn’t have left a way for you to contact me, if I wasn’t willing to talk.”

Tony held her gaze for a long moment.

He tapped at the keypad.

Several pages opened across the screens.

Pages of instructions, formulas, tables, calculations, and skeletal molecular structures illuminated the digital glass.

Alethia kept her gaze on Tony.

“What is this?” Tony asked, quiet and direct.

She breathed a slow exhale, hip cocking.

“The formulas, chemical synthesis processes, and medical procedures for stabilising the biological effects of the experimental serum known as Extremis,” she announced clinically, “when introduced to the human body intravenously, subcutaneously, or intramuscularly.” Alethia paused, pointedly. “I did include an abstract.”

“And you broke into my building to leave it here.”

“I apologise for the necessity.” Alethia replied evenly. “It was safer, than a courier.”

“You couldn’t think of another way?”

She arched an eyebrow.

“So- a package, delivered to this building, or a file sent to the general inquires inbox for Stark Industries, addressed directly to you, from an unknown sender- wouldn’t have been lost in the system?”

Despite the lingering irritation, he could admit that she had a point.

And at least she hadn’t tried to hack JARVIS, or threatened to taser him, or ripped the arc reactor out of his chest, or thrown him through a window.

All in all, this break-in was probably in his top three.

Tony flicked his hands into a shrug, keeping his expression blank and blithe.

“Alright. Let’s say I buy that.” He did buy it, but she didn’t need to know that yet. “You wanna tell me what this really is?”

He saw the subtle shift in her eyes, becoming a little shrewder, a touch sharper- and a little pleased.

She pulled up one shoulder.

“A gift? Or a bribe, perhaps. Gratitude. Diplomacy. A resumé.”

“What, you’re in the market for a job?”

The quip was as pithy as he intended, but in the split second that followed- huh.

Actually.

That wasn’t a terrible idea.

Tony acknowledged that he needed to step back from Iron Man- at least until he could reorganise his head and redraw the lines so that it wasn’t the all-consuming furnace of fear and duty and penance and freedom-safety that it had become- but the work wouldn’t wait. The planet was on a deadline, and Tony had more resources than most to pull the necessary defences together. Having good people on board, who could keep his projects ticking over while he reorientated, was essential.

And Alethia knew. She had recognised the monsters lurking in the dark between the stars, and had looked for someone to warn when she decided that Fury couldn’t be trusted to listen.

And then there was the truth in all things, and cannot lie aspect. That was a hell of an ace up Earth’s collective sleeve- if, if, if-

“I don’t need a job, Dr Stark. What I need is an ally.” Alethia spoke as clear and calm as daybreak upon the mountains. “We both do. As many as we can get.”

Tony swallowed, carefully.

He turned his head to look at the screens, grappling down the swoop of intermingled terror and relief.

“So this is your pitch.”

“I was working on other areas, but- I saw the news,” Alethia said mildly. “The bombings. Malibu.”

She hesitated.

“I was worried.”

Tony flicked a slightly surprised glance back at her.

Alethia’s gaze was on the screens, inscrutable.

There was a note of quiet sincerity in her voice that rattled something within him, like marbles in a jar.

“Well.” Tony began, turning back towards the illuminated text. “I’ve come back from the dead before.”

“Even so.” She demurred. “You were- you were kind to me. I didn’t forget that. So I was glad to find that you were alright. Then I found out about AIM, and Extremis, and I- thought you could use the assistance.”

Tony didn’t know what to say.

He still couldn’t decide, even after a moment to reboot.

Instead, he deflected.

“I knew you weren’t an engineer.”

“Hm?”

Tony flicked a practiced, flippant gesture at the screens- a quick upturn of his palm, fingers loosely curled- turning away.

“Back then. The instructions you provided for the Tesseract device- I mean, we talked about it at the time. Hot garbage, right? Intentional hot garbage, but still. There was a solid working understanding of the physics and the mechanics, but it wasn’t written by someone au fait with the field. There are things that you only learn if you’ve studied it, read the books, learned how to speak the language. It’s all in the common practice- the jargon, the shorthand. That was missing, from your papers. There were a few pieces, but not enough. You’re not an engineer.”

Tony turned to face her, expression a flat, inscrutable mask.

“You are a doctor, though.”

Alethia didn’t flinch.

He would expect nothing less, from someone who had kept secrets from Nicholas Fury and was still walking around, doing as she pleased.

“This,” Tony raised a finger to his shoulder-line, indicating the screens behind him. “Is perfect. Flawless. You could send this for peer review and get it published in The Lancet.”

A chink appeared in Alethia’s expression- something that she had allowed to break through, intense as sunlight striking on a shard of glass.

Pride.

It was earned. As far as Tony could tell, she had whipped up the antiserum formula within a matter of days; any sane research institute or private company on the planet, including the medical subsidiaries of Stark Industries, would be putting a bounty on her corporate headhunt if they knew.

Blasé as he could afford to be with money, however, Tony rarely made a purchase without knowing the price.

“So. What are you?” He paced back towards her, gathering a slow momentum like the wind of a crank, closing in. “Biochem? Cellular biology? Genetics? What’s your speciality?”

Alethia smiled.

“Neurosurgery.”

Tony’s brow twitched at the admission, taken aback.

He wasn’t actually expecting a straight answer. He wasn’t expecting that answer.

And he wasn’t expecting its wistfulness.

“You’re a brain surgeon?”

She let out a short laugh.

“I should probably introduce myself.” An incandescent, media-ready smile lit up her features, relaxed and confident. “Dr Astrid North, MD.”

Tony stilled.

That was her name, he could tell. Not an alias.

Tony quickly calculated the risk, that she was taking.

“Date of birth recorded as the twenty-ninth of February, 1988,” she continued, as though this time she was actually reciting and submitting her résumé for consideration. “Graduated from Columbia in the class of ’03, summa cum laude, completed my neurosurgical residency in 2010. I also worked under the surnames Stephenson and Stephensdottir- spelt like the doctorate, not like the super-soldier. There should be records of me available here in New York, as well as the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, and Brazil.”

Tony could feel the staccato of his heart, stuttering behind the arc reactor, a thrum of anticipation.

“Hm. SHIELD know any of this?”

Alethia’s- Astrid’s- lip curled with a hint of contempt.

“No.”

“Then why are you telling me?”

She lifted her shoulder. “I thought you’d want an insurance policy.”

“And what have I done to earn that?”

“You listened.”

“I passed the test,” Tony inferred. “That’s why you’re here?”

“I’m here because I would like to trust you,” Astrid said coolly, “and because I think there’s a more than fair probability that I can. And- because I would like you to trust me. Even if only enough to work together.”

Tony observed her for a few dragging seconds.

“What’s your endgame?” He challenged. “You told me back then that you’re not an altruist.”

“Oh, I’m not.”

“Then why? What’s in it for you?”

Her brow tensed slightly.

“Enlightened self-interest? Or, is I don’t want the planet I currently live on to be destroyed insufficient for you?”

“Eh, plenty of people don’t find it compelling. Look at climate change.”

Astrid’s lips parted to reply- before she grimaced, glancing aside in admission.

“Alright, fair point.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But maybe I’m just more circumspect.”

“Or you have another reason.”

She lifted her eyes to the ceiling with a slow blink.

“You are being very obstinate about this.”

“You know, I don’t actually care, what your actual reason is,” Tony blurted out, sharp and caustic as battery acid, a sudden flare of anger and impatience shoving him forwards, “because you’re right. We need allies. Including each other. So I’m willing to work with your reason why. But only if I know what it is.”

The moment that Tony stopped speaking, he became aware of how Astrid was looking at him.

Tony felt like he was being taken apart, disassembled, the cover plate pulled off to check the hardware.

Truth in all things.

She hummed, soft in the back of her throat. It was the kind that he could feel in his sternum, even with most of it carved away for the arc reactor.

“Alright,” she said softly. “Fair’s fair.”

She straightened, looking away.

“There is- someone.” She said carefully. “Someone that I love.”

Tony blinked.

It was like the twist of a kaleidoscope, patterns reforming, in four simple words.

“And the one responsible for- that-” Astrid snapped a finger heavenwards, her entire being smouldering with a leashed, soul-deep hatred, “took them, at their most vulnerable. Captured them. Tortured them. For months. Years. Twisted their memories, tainted their emotions, and manipulated their pain until they no longer knew where they ended, and the sceptre began. They barely kept enough of themselves to ruin it all, and break free of the control.”

Tony felt a muscle in his bicep and jaw twitch, flicking an appraising, calculating look across her.

Interesting.

“The one that I love will be hunted as a traitor. Or, as a failure- I don’t think it matters, and I don’t care. It all has the same end. What matters is that the one I love will never be safe, until and unless that is no longer a threat.”

Astrid dropped her hand, meeting his eyes addressing him with a tone of complete, terrifying certainty.

“I have decided that it is not going to be a threat.”

The floor of Tony’s stomach dropped out, the room seeming to tilt.

He was suddenly struck with a strange thought- like some survival instinct coded into his evolutionary ancestry, tapping at his nerve endings, lingering like a chill in the vertebrae of his neck. It was the feeling that he was looking at something ancient, and angered- half-mad and unhinged and doing an admirable job of containing itself to its human skin.

He realised, in a split second, that Astrid was probably something not entirely human.

And she was baring her teeth at whatever was threatening to swallow Earth whole.

Fuck it. He could work with this.

“All of the sake of love?” Tony asked.

He took pride in the fact that his cadence was even-keeled, despite the stagger of his pulse.

A humourless, self-deprecating smile wrung through her features.

“You can laugh,” Astrid told him, rueful and without rancour. “I know how I must sound.”

Tony forced himself to shrug, nonchalantly. “I’ve heard worse.”

And he had. Tony had been worse. He had cut deals with worse, because he was a realist, and anyone pursuing utopia had to be willing to drag themselves through purgatory first.

After a long moment, Tony inhaled sharply, pulling his shoulders back.

“Okay,” he said powerfully. “If this is a bluff? I’m calling it. Cards on the table.”

A spark ignited behind Astrid’s eyes, like a struck match.

“Pepper’s been injected with Extremis,” he continued brusquely, “I need to get her stable, along with any other test subjects that AIM decided to turn into literal walking time bombs. That’s why you gave me these papers, right? You thought I could use it, and I can. So let’s get to it. You in?”

Astrid looked startled- before her entire demeanour snapped into a honed, clinical focus.

“Wh- are you monitoring cortisol levels? Internal temperature, heartrate, WBC-?”

“Per doctor’s orders.” Tony flicked his head towards the reams of detailed medical instructions, listed out on the glass. “Followed your procedures to the letter. We’re tracking down anyone else who might have taken part in clinical trials, but it looks like there were a limited number, at least.”

Astrid tugged up her sleeves with an efficient pinch of fabric, pulling the soft knit clear of her wrists and forearms. “How many potential patients?”

“Caps out at a dozen, maybe.”

“The antiserum? You’ve started synthesising it?”

“As we speak, lab’s running on auto.”

“How much?”

“About two hundred and fifty milligrams, in the first batch.”

“Not enough. Triple it. And quintuple it for the others, per patient. I don’t want to be caught out with less than we need. Have you started on the round of pre-antiserum IV fluids?”

“About three hours ago.”

“And no adverse effects, contraindications?”

“Nada. Smooth sailing, all in line with where you said we should be by now.”

“Good, but keep Miss Potts closely monitored. And we’ll still need to test the antiserum on a live tissue sample, if possible.”

“I’ll get on it.”

Tony swiped two fingers down through the air, dismissing the pages on the screens, the room dimming slightly as they slid away.

“If this works,” he said, his enunciation crisp, “we can talk.” In one fluid motion, Tony plucked a StarkPad from amongst the chaos of the workbenches, flipping it in his grip to hold it, outstretched, within her reach. “Sound good, doctor?”

Astrid smiled, light and wild, and Tony felt his decision settle in his chest with a feeling of rightness.

This could work.

She took the tablet.

“Lead the way, doctor.”

Astrid made an addition to her list.

Flour.

50 weeks and 3 days out

Brunnhilde would be the first to admit that she was not made for subterfuge.

She was a woman of brash, blunt action, more inclined to punch her way straight through her problems that to deconstruct them. As such, her vocation suited her. The Valkyrie were the vanguard, the cavalry, the elite corps, revered shieldmaidens who cleared the field with a swift, graceful brutality that was immortalised in legend and song and carving.

They had been thralls, once. Slaves.

Most of Asgard had forgotten that.

As war raged across the Nine, they had been appropriated by the throne- a form of tax levy, on the wealthy of Asgard- and dispatched to the battlefield in the wake of Asgard’s armies, to collect corpses from the slurry. Choosers of the slain, the golden-plated Einherjar snickered into their cups, leering over the rims.

Then there was a shortage of disposable warm bodies. It had seen weapons pressed into their hands, shoved to the front lines to fill out the ranks.

Against all expectation, the Valkyrie had fought. The fought, and lived, and bought victory to Asgard.

In recognition of their deeds, Bor had purchased their freedom. The Valkyrie became the pride of Asgard, a symbol of its might, arrayed in battle armour of bright, sun-catching pearl-white and star-silver.

Their origins were probably why the Valkyrie could be found working, even in peacetime- conducting funerary rites, serving at great state occasions, maintaining Folkvang- while the Einherjar regressed into nothing more than decorative doorstops scattered throughout Gladsheim.

Brunnhilde had once remarked as such to Loki. Months later, he had presented her with a gilded doorstop for her nameday, crafted into the shape of an Einherjar in full regalia.

It had sent Brunnhilde into a fit of delighted, undignified cackles.

I’m calling him Sigurd, she declared with a feral grin.

Ah, he’s not going to last a week, Loki had commented, clicking his tongue with a convincing veneer of faux-pity.

Even now, few if any of Brunnhilde’s sisters were of noble blood or wealthy backgrounds. Most of them came from labouring families, apprenticed in a trade before they turned old enough to apply to the corps, and they bought their skills to Folkvang. The Valkyrie’s halls, sheltered in a chilled, fertile basin in the mountains, was almost entirely self-sufficient thanks to their collective knowledge. They raised fields of wheat and flax, milled their own flour and spun their own linen, wove and baked and built, felled timber and hunted and fished, tanned leather and cured meat, cut stone and dug wells, even kept bees and pressed oil and fermented wine and made candles.

And then there was the lace.

A few girls who knew how to weave had taken it up, transforming thread into pretty swatches of aerated cloth. They had begun teaching the craft to a few others, when they showed interest. Then the pastime became an additional source of income, to supplement the stipend provided by the crown.

And within a few centuries, Valkyrie lace was considered amongst the most exquisite craftsmanship in all the Nine. A single spool of inch-wide trim commanded a small fortune. When a Valkyrie was wed, it was customary for her sisters to spend the year and a day between engagement and marriage- or longer, if they saw the union coming- making as many yards of lace as they could manage, as her dowry.

Brunnhilde loved her sisters, admired their work, and hated lacemaking with a virulence that she usually reserved for bilgesnipe and strutting lordlings who thought that bedding a Valkyrie was a notch in their gilded belt.

Fortunately, she also had absolutely no talent for it. The others had quickly banished her from their tatting pillows and needles and bobbins, gently shoving her off towards work that actually made sense to her.

And Brunnhilde was content to have nothing to do with it. She honestly couldn’t understand what the others envisioned in the countless threads, or why crossing one here or knotting another there would somehow create a magnificently intricate motif several thousand more motions later, even if she was capable of appreciating the result.

In that sense, subterfuge reminded her of lacework.

She couldn’t see all of the threads, where they were leading, or how they locked together into a single bolt of woven fibre and air- but Loki so clearly knew exactly how each and every loop and twist and knot would build outwards, and took quiet satisfaction in seeing each one tighten into place, like a miniature noose.

There was an aching patience to it, each miniscule snag changing the fall of the delicate mesh, and Brunnhilde was often caught by the impulse to just hack her way through it.

She didn’t.

Instead, she did exactly as he asked.

Asgard underestimates him, a memory whispered- that of a warm voice, accompanied by a smile that darkened the eyes above it into amber. Or thinks it sees him, or thinks it knows what it’s looking at. A trick of the light. A shadow on glass. It is a mistake, you know.

The darkened eyes had begun to glow, instead, when they saw that Brunnhilde was paying attention.

I think he might be the most real person that I have ever met.

“I was surprised,” Loki admitted, on a low, distracted hum, “that you didn’t ask.”

The dungeons were quiet, at least in the wing where Loki was being held. It felt like an archive, a place for lost and forgotten things to be kept, shelved and stored out of sight until they were needed- the air settled as silt on the bottom of a riverbed, barely stirring with the sparse rounds of the guards.

Brunnhilde had counted eleven weaknesses that she could exploit, if it came to it.

She would have counted three dozen more in a fraction of the time.

She felt her heart clench strangely. It was the feeling of old scar tissue, untouched for so long, flexing and moving once more.

She and Loki were seated at the front of his cell, arranged parallel against the golden barrier on either side. Swathed in worn, nondescript suedes, Brunnhilde slouched on the stone steps, bare shoulder shoved against the forcefield; the air felt thicker the closer she came to the curtain of spellwork, like magnetic resistance, but she found herself leaning her weight into it, defiant and testing, like pressing her thumb down on a new bruise.

On the other side, Loki was sorting through several sheaves of handwritten notes, stacks surrounding him like panes in a half-rose window. His black hair was braided back at his crown, dressed in soft leathers and deep green linens and lightweight boots, finely made with immaculate quality, but far simpler than would be expected of an Asgardian prince- at least outside of the privacy of the residential wings of the palace.

Brunnhilde knew that he could have dressed himself in illusions, if he wished.

The choice not to was- interesting. In a way that she refused to think about.

There were a lot of things she refused to think about, with regards to Loki.

Not when it made her feel all those mollusc-soft sentiments that she had decided to kill years ago, for her own survival, after the gold plating of Asgard had begun to flake in her eyes.

In that, at least, she knew they were both in good company.

“I asked about this,” Brunnhilde countered his comment, tapping a nail against the arm ring that sat flush against the curve of her bicep. It was a deceptively simple band of brass, seeming to blend in against her, unremarkable regardless of lighting. Between it, and Loki’s magic, they were shielded from the Gatekeeper’s watch- Loki as a glaring lacuna in the script, a blank space, and Brunnhilde as though from behind a fine, misting rain, the specifics blurred out of focus.

Loki rolled his eyes, in that prissy, superior manner that left Brunnhilde more amused than irritated, these days.

“Yes, about whether it would turn your skin orange or set you spitting toads, of all things.”

“It was a valid concern, knowing you.”

“Hm.” There was a slight upturn at the corner of Loki’s mouth- the closest thing to agreement that she would probably wrest out of him.

Brunnhilde slipped loose a smirk.

“I didn’t bother asking,” she admitted, in a crisp-consonant drawl, “because I knew that I probably wouldn’t understand it anyway. It would be like asking to read a contract before I sign, when I don’t know the language it’s written in.”

Loki’s eyes sliced up from the papers, without lifting his head, fixing her with a serpentine gaze.

“You do yourself a disservice, Brunn.”

Brunnhilde paused, a little surprised by his quiet vehemence.

She shrugged it away.

“This is just not something I’m suited for. Politics and subterfuge and spywork. Moving the pieces by moving entirely different ones, lightyears away. It’s like my sisters, and their lacework,” she admitted blithely. “I understand the theory. But even if you had told me where this was going, I wouldn’t know enough to tell if you were lying.”

But.

Brunnhilde wasn’t entirely ignorant to Loki’s plans. She had made certain of it.

She had heard the gossip, on dozens of planets across the Nine. The arm ring not only shielded her from Heimdall’s sight, but also from the perils of using the secret passageways that were specked across Asgard- allowing her to move freely between worlds, at Loki’s direction.

Steadily, disparate pieces and seemingly unconnected incidents were coalescing, into a clear picture.

Muspelheim had struck an unexpected trade deal with Ria. When the revival of the disused trade route had attracted Marauders and Ravagers, a new defence coalition had formed, stationed at crucial waypoints to prevent piracy and smuggling.

The Crown Prince of Vanaheim had headed a diplomatic envoy to Alfheim. By the time he had arrived, Niflheim’s queen just so happened to be also be visiting her fellow monarch. The triumvirate meeting occurred without a single Asgardian dignitary present.

A few weeks later, the realm of the light elves had also hosted several representatives of dwarven guilds.

The Nova-Kree War was turning cold. The Nine had become neutral ground. The Nova Corps had offered aid to those on the outskirts and most affected by raids, and had sent engineers to retrofit their older, short-haul vessels with swifter engines and stronger defences. The Kree were in tentative talks with Nidarvellir, to have the dwarves invest in maintaining local jump points, in exchange for Kree arms to protect their merchant fleets.

The realms were moving, like the interlocking turn of dials and gears. And for the first time in millennia, Asgard was excluded from its workings.

And it was Loki’s doing.

At his instruction, Brunnhilde had bribed and baited Ravagers to harass Nidarvellir trade routes. She had placed bets at various ports, on the likelihood of a Kree civil war. She had sold information on Knowhere, changed figures on shipping manifestos, stirred up bar fights and complained about the export tax on goods out of Ria, destroyed shipments and switched documents and delayed correspondence, paid off and blackmailed and persuaded civil servants and stewards and aides into suggesting or omitting a minor detail from a report, or handing a project to a different department.

Brunnhilde was the stage hand in a great, orchestrated play. The Nine were being gently herded into a strengthening current- one that was looking outwards, into a galaxy where the balance of power was shifting.

It was a coup.

And Loki hadn’t even left his cell.

Brunnhilde refused to be impressed.

After a moment, she realised that Loki was looking at her with a glinting amusement.

It wasn’t the kind that was intended to mock, but rather the prelude to bringing her in on the joke.

“Of course you can’t see where this is going, Brunn,” he said softly. “You’re the needle.”

A memory clicked into place, flickering in like guttering lamplight.

There was a bolster pillow in her lap, a lace pad template pinned atop it, embroidery needle gripped uncertain and rigid between her forefinger and thumb. The chatter and bickering and teasing of her sisters was a cloud of ambient sound that seemed to glow like nimbus, in the apple-golden autumn afternoon.

A warm shoulder brushed near her own.

Gently, Brunn! A voice laughed. Treat your needle with respect. Relax your hand. The needle can feel where it needs to go- you’re just guiding it.

This is a terrible idea, Brunnhilde had muttered. We all remember what happened when Svanhit tried to teach me.

Stay away from my bobbins, Brunn! Came a sharp call from across the hall, to a few snickers. Olrun, Hervor, keep her away!

Brunnhilde had made to wave a vulgar gesture at her, and almost stabbed herself with the needle.

Needlepoint lace is more straightforward, a clear voice interjected. Brunnhilde had looked over to her- the glint of her needle moving in brisk freehand stitches, looping and tightening, all deft skill and focus, one moving part, one thread. You don’t have to keep track of seventy different bobbins, and the order you need to cross or twist them in.

Your prince prefers bobbin lace, doesn’t he? Brunnhilde asked, smirkingly.

Brunnhilde received a gentle, reproachful elbow to the ribs.

A flush, through golden skin, head dipping and pearl-white hair slipping forwards.

Prince Loki has a mind for it, she replied, deliberately and damningly neutral. The dance of it, the complexity- it suits him.

Well, what do you prefer?

She had paused, head cocked.

I like both, I suppose, she hedged. Bobbin lace is essentially weaving- looping the strands together, pulling them into place against each other. It tends to be- lighter, more of a fabric with motifs created inside of it. Layers of opacity. Needle lace is often studier. Like- scaffolding. The pattern is all that there is. And the needle has to work back and back and back to bring it into existence, to make sure it holds in place, knotting back where it has already been.

Her eyes sharpened.

No- I think I prefer bobbin lace. Needle lace is- putting a great deal of trust on just one thing.

Brunnhilde blinked back into the present.

Oh.

Loki had learned some lacemaking. He would have likely received that same explanation, heard the same comparison.

After a moment, she scowled, looking away.

“I still hate lacemaking.”

Loki laughed.

Worlds away, Astrid made a cautious addition to her list, framed in brackets.

(Lace).

[PREVIOUS] | [MASTERLIST] | [NEXT]

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 5 months ago

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what would Bucky or Steve be like in the delulu verse? :3

Lets see who we got so far:

Sy - Delulu cyber stalker

Andrew - Delulu catfish

Thor - delulu customer

Loki - delulu mama's boy (idk lol)

Cole - delulu farmer

Lloyd - delulu simp assassin

(Let me know if I missed someone, I'm sawry)

So Steve? An artist possibly? Maybe delulu about his new gallery assistant.

Bucky? I'm trying to think of something suitably grumpy. I think it'd be funny if reader knew him through someone else and he was always really short with that person but is really sweet on reader when no one's looking.

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fedtothenight · 1 year ago

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tw for graphic description of suicide and cyber bullying

on october 9th, 2023, an italian call of duty cosplayer going by the name inquisitor committed suicide on live tiktok.

for hours his body lay offscreen as hundreds of people watched the stream, and some ironised that the phone set-up, angled towards a glass door to the outside, with no speaking and music in the background, was him being “mysterious”.

then, a hit against the glass door. another one. another one. a man was seen break in, crouch down off screen, receiving instructions on how to perform cpr from a woman still outside, on the phone with a 111 operator.

the live ended just after paramedics came into view, thanks to the reports of some users who had understood what had been unfolding in front of their eyes.

for a day, conflicting information regarding the outcome of his attempt flooded tiktok. it is now seemingly proven that he is no longer on this earth and that his funerals are today, october 11th 2023. in italy, it is common for funerals to happen within a 48-hour window from passing.

inquisitor was 23 at the time of his death.

weeks prior, inquisitor, who had privated all his accounts before reactivating for this last live, was accused of grooming and pedophilia. screenshots came out of him allegedly flirting with a 17 year old and/or a 15 year old. the cod community rallied around the minor(s): he was, to put it in tiktok terms, ‘cancelled’. he was named a p*dophile and a groomer.

other popular accounts, with thousands of followers, posted ‘call out’ videos about him, spreading the voice. the same accounts, the ‘batman of the fandom defending minors’, barely old teenagers themselves, mocked his live as it was happening — claiming it was for clout.

it had since emerged that the allegations were, allegedly, false. yesterday, multiple other cosplayers and users in the fandom posted screen-recordings of the minor admitting that they had lied about their age to flirt with him—who had a ‘minors dni’ in his bio.

it has since further been alleged, with screenshots, that the minor and their boyfriend orchestrated the call out, with the latter, who claims to be in the us army, egging the minor to ramp up their flirting until it became sexting. it is not proven it ever got to that point. the intentions to ruin someone’s reputation, however, were apparently there.

in italy, which is not the usa, and where high school is compasses ages 13 to 20 for those who do repeat years, it is also culturally accepted for someone in their early twenties to flirt or date someone who is around 18.

this is true irrespective of anyone’s feelings about it.

regardless of all that, regardless of whatever amount of the allegations, it not all, were false, a young man is dead and his death was live-streamed to thousands of people. in his own words to one of his friends, who showed some of his last messages, he committed suicide live on purpose to show what the past few weeks had done to him.

it should have never come to this point. at least please let it be a reminder that mob mentality is deadly, that we should never let go of our empathy, and that all suspected crimes, especially if this serious, should be reported to and dealt with by the proper authorities, not people on the internet.

i won’t stay his name because to the best of my knowledge he only gave it out privately, but: he was 23. he loved star wars and worked in a tattoo shop. he lived in bologna. he liked tortellini. he had a cat named loki and a sister who sometimes joined his lives off-screen. he was loved. all this information he gave freely.

although denial still wants to make me hope he made it out, and that he is okay, and alive and well, because what’s what denial does, my thoughts go out to him, to his family, to his friends.

inquisitor, if you're not here anymore: sit tibi terra levis.

#suicide tw

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tenebraevesper · 5 months ago

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Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 55: Walking In Your Shoes

''Sound the alarm… Shatter me like glass. Covered in scars, but roses are coming through the cracks. Time that you killed, you promised to help me rebuild! It caught me off guard, sound the alarm...''

– Vandalize by Sonic Frontiers

xXxXxXx

''Sonic and I had met up with Loki to talk about the situation,'' Lucas told his friends, who were all gathered at the Taylor Workshop, listening to him. ''He had told us that the Chaos Incident was categorized as an attack by a very powerful Irregular and left to the Hunters to handle it. As for Team Neos, Loki said that he wouldn't involve us in any report and thanked us for saving the city.'' Lucas leaned back on the couch, sighing. ''He had also mentioned that they got contacted by Dr. Eggman, who told them that he would be retrieving the Egg Carrier out of Cosmo River. Apparently, people were just done with this whole thing and let him do whatever he wanted, but when they asked whether he would assist in the rebuilding, since they assumed that he had something to do with it, he said 'No'.''

This caused his friends to laugh lightly, with Minami chiming in, ''What did they expect? It's Eggman we're talking about.''

''I'm surprised that they even let him pick up the Egg Carrier,'' Silver said.

''Well, just like Lucas said, people probably couldn't bother removing an airship from the river. Besides, Eggman seems to have the time and tech for that,'' Lily pointed out.

''At least we won't have to worry about him for the time being. I'm sure that even Eggman doesn't want to start trouble only a few days after the Chaos Incident,'' Amy said.

''He was quite insistent on Starline not giving Chaos the last Chaos Emerald, but that was mainly because he knew he lost control over him,'' Touka said. The conversation suddenly died down when Joanne, Warren's mother, entered the workshop carrying a tray of drinks for everyone.

''Thanks, Mum,'' Warren said, taking the tray.

''I hope you and your friends are not up to any trouble,'' Joanne said, glancing at Team Neos with a fairly innocent and kind smile on her expression, not caring that she got a few nervous and tense looks in return.

''Don't worry, we were just talking about stuff,'' Warren replied.

''Yeah, nothing to worry about,'' Tails quickly added.

''Okay, have fun!'' Joanne replied, exiting the workshop, with the whole team still feeling a sense of chill lingering in the air, all of them being well aware what Warren's mother was talking about.

It had been a couple of days since the Chaos Incident, with things returning to normal… to an extent. The status quo Team Neos knew was immediately shattered when they all returned home, tired and bruised from all the fighting, only to be met by their parents' worried, furious and concerned looks. As Lucas had predicted, with the battle against Perfect Chaos being partially broadcasted on the news thanks to Midorikawa and Kero, they had also been caught on camera, meaning that their parents not only saw them, but also immediately confronted them about what had happened, with two exceptions.

Since Lucas' parents were currently in a different country, he instead had to deal with being scolded by Warren's mother, given how the Taylor family was close with the Kinomoto family and Joanne saw Lucas as another son. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it could be, but them having to explain hat they did as members of Team Neos, as well as the fact that Sonic and Tails were Irregulars was filled with tension. Thankfully, Joanne was quite reasonable, bearing no ill will to the hedgehog and fox as they protected their partners, but did tell Lucas to call his parents and tell them what had happened.

Lucas agreed, and that conversation actually went better than the one he had with Warren's mother. His parents were certainly shocked to hear what their son had been through, but Harper and Shinjiro Kinomoto were more intrigued by the fact that Lucas was willing to go on such adventures. Sonic was actually quite amused by that conversation as Lucas' parents demanded every detail of what they had been doing since the blue hedgehog joined their family, thanking him for protecting Lucas and even agreeing that, as long as they knew what they were doing, that they wouldn't be in trouble. After all, they couldn't be there for their son due to work, and they were happy to hear Lucas had friends he could rely on.

As for Makoto and Minami, they were both scolded by their parents, albeit the tone was more anger born of worry, with Makoto's mother and Minami's parents understanding that their son and daughter were under Silver and Amy's protection. As a matter of fact, they were more shocked that the two were non-aggressive Irregulars than anything else. Minami and Amy also escorted Cream and Cheese back to their home, where they were met with a rather scary-looking Vanilla, who was wondering into what kind of trouble her daughter had gotten herself into and why Minami and Amy allowed this to happen. Rest assured, the two were quite shaken up after that conversation.

Lily, on the other hand, was quite in a lot of trouble, because her parents were fuming, being furious at both her and Knuckles. Considering how they had a history of overprotectivness, to the point of keeping Lily in a gilded cage that was their mansion, Lily and Knuckles both argued their case, pointing out how they both had been on these kinds of adventures for weeks and they were fine, with the argument reaching a point where Lily punched a hole in the wall of the mansion with a Chaos Surge-powered fist – a move she and Knuckles agreed to even before the confrontation, since they knew that her parents would just lock her up again for her own safety – leaving her own parents quite frightened once they realized that their daughter wasn't as helpless as they believed. They eventually agreed to let her do whatever she wanted as long as she stays safe.

As for Touka, she and Shadow literally got away without being scolded by Kisaki, since she already knew into what kind of adventures the two got themselves into. She was just relieved that they were alive and well, and listened to their side of what had happened with Chaos. Considering what the two went through before the Chaos Incident, it was a relief.

''I suppose we'll have some peace now,'' Knuckles said, breaking the silence and grabbing a handful of grapes from the nearby bowl. ''Didn't you two call us over because you wanted to show us something?''

''Oh, right, I almost forgot,'' Tails suddenly said, turning towards a device on the nearby table. ''This is something Warren and I had been working for a while as a little side-project. It's still in the experimental phase, though.''

''To keep it laconic, it is a scanner than can be equipped within an AR Field and scan the powers and abilities of an ARNav. That way, we would be able to gather information about the various Irregulars and figure out how to combat them,'' Warren added.

''Unfortunately, we don't know how it would work on multiple Irregulars,'' Tails added.

''Is there something we could do to help?'' Amy asked.

''Well, I guess we could activate it and have at least two enter the AR Field just to see how it would react,'' Warren said. ''So, who wants to play the guinea pig?''

Knuckles, Amy and Silver glanced at each other, with Silver realizing something. ''Uh, where are Sonic and Shadow? I haven't seen them the whole day.''

''They're having one of their sparring matches,'' Lucas replied. ''It took Sonic only one evening to recover from the fight with Perfect Chaos and he was ready to square up again.''

''He has the will of a warrior. Still a bit lacking in constitution,'' Knuckles said. The group then walked outside, with Tails and Warren setting up the AR Field and the scanner.

''So, are we going to play Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who goes inside?'' Silver asked. Amy and Knuckles shrugged, waiting for Warren and Tails to be done.

However, before any of them could say something, they heard a laughter in the distance, followed by an orange blur being chased by an blue blur through the neighborhood. It was obvious to them that these two were Shadow and Sonic, having another of their battle races across the whole city and currently being on a collision course towards the AR Field, with Shadow getting ahead of Sonic. That's where Tails and Warren started to panic.

''Sonic, Shadow, wait!'' Tails cried out when both hedgehogs curled into balls, Sonic spin attacking into Shadow to take him down, causing both of them to crash right into the AR Field. Everyone winced when they heard a sound of something exploding, with the AR Field vanishing, leaving a destroyed scanner and two very dazed hedgehogs on the ground.

''Sonic!''

''Shadow!''

Lucas and Touka ran over to their respective partner, checking on them.

''What happened?'' Sonic sat up, one hand pressed against the side of his head and he narrowed his eyes as he glanced at Lucas.

''Man, I feel like I got hit by a truck. I'm all fine though, don't worry,'' Shadow said in a nonchalant tone, giving Touka a wide grin. It was soon followed by a look of confusion when he saw Touka staring at him. ''Uh, what's wrong?''

''Uh, Shadow…'' Touka started tentatively, but ''Shadow'' interrupted her.

''No, I'm Sonic,'' he said, getting up and pointing at himself. ''Why would you- uh?''

The hedgehog in question looked down at his body, but instead of seeing blue and peach fur, he was met with black and white fur with red accents. Shocked, he turned towards the other hedgehog, only to feel a chill flow down his spine when he saw ''Sonic'' giving him a death glare, his emerald eyes glinting maliciously, and winced when he saw the latter walking over to him with murderous intention.

''What did you do?! Why are you in my body?!'' ''Sonic'' shouted at ''Shadow'' furiously, gritting his teeth as he glared at the latter.

''I-I don't know- We've been racing and the next thing I know, this happened,'' ''Shadow'' replied, holding up his hands in defense as he stared nervously back at ''Sonic''.

''Hey, calm down you two!'' Tails stepped between the two hedgehogs, picking up the destroyed scanner. ''Let's confirm something – you are Sonic, right?''

''Yeah.'' ''Shadow'' nodded in response, giving Tails a curious look.

''That means that you're Shadow.'' Tails turned to the other hedgehog.

''Yes,'' ''Sonic'' answered, arms folded across his chest and his eyes narrowed. Tails nodded.

''I think I got it figured out. It seems that, by entering the AR Field and destroying this scanner, some kind of side-effect occurred, resulting in the two of you accidentally swapping bodies,'' Tails explained, tilting his head to the side, giving both of them a curious look. ''Fascinating!''

Shadow!Sonic stared back at Tails with his mouth agape, while Sonic!Shadow gave the two-tailed fox a stunned look. The moment of silence was then broken by a loud laughter, coming from Knuckles of all people, who was quite amused by the hedgehogs' situation, finding the whole situation hilarious. Both Shadow!Sonic and Sonic!Shadow shot him a glare, before quickly turning to Tails.

''This is temporary, right Tails?'' Shadow!Sonic asked. ''Shads and I won't be stuck like this forever. I'm sure that you can figure out how to get us back to normal.''

''Yeah, I can… but it will take a while, since I need to first figure out how to the mind transfer had happened first,'' Tails replied. ''I will have to repair the scanner as well.''

''How long is it going to take?'' Sonic!Shadow asked, a firm look on his expression.

''Probably a day or so,'' Tails said, shrugging. The two hedgehogs gave him a blank look, clearly unhappy that they would have to wait this long to return back to their own bodies, but once the shock had passed, Shadow!Sonic turned to Sonic!Shadow with a cheeky smile.

''You know, maybe this isn't that bad,'' Shadow!Sonic said. ''We could have some fun like this.''

''You can't be serious,'' Sonic!Shadow muttered under his breath, frowning as he watched his Shadow!Sonic looking down at his air shoes, feeling their weight. ''What are you doing?''

''If we're going to be stuck like this for a while, maybe you could teach me how to use your skates,'' Shadow!Sonic replied, only to gasp in excitement. ''I could also learn how to use Chaos Control!''

''They're air shoes,'' Sonic!Shadow replied in a deadpan tone, adding in an irked tone, ''Also, I'm not going to teach you how to use Chaos Control. The last thing I need is for you to get into trouble while you're in my body.''

Shadow!Sonic pouted, giving his rival an annoyed look, only to smile sincerely as he reached for him. ''Aww, com'n, Shads! If I could use Chaos Control with a Chaos Emerald, I'm sure I'll manage it with just your power.''

Both hedgehogs then glanced down, only to realize that they were holding hands after Shadow!Sonic had taken hold of Sonic!Shadow's hands in an attempt to convince him to go along with his suggestion. Sonic!Shadow raised his eyebrow as he gave Shadow!Sonic a look, with Shadow!Sonic quickly pulling back his hands, giving the azure hedgehog a sheepish smile and rubbing the back of his head. He then looked at his hand, clenching it into a fist.

''Maybe I could…'' he muttered, with an alarmed expression appearing on Sonic!Shadow's expression as he realized what his rival was about to do.

''W-Wait!'' Sonic!Shadow was about to grab him, but the dark hedgehog had already disappeared in a flash of cyan light, leaving the former speechless, only to growl in frustration. ''That idiot!''

xXx

Sonic had to admit that, while having Shadow's powers was quite fun, he wasn't exactly thinking straight about how to use them. He simply got too excited, which led to him getting carried away and now he was stuck on the ledge of a tall office building, staring down at the busy street. One wrong move and he was dead.

Maybe I should've listened to Shadow… Shadow!Sonic shook his head, a determined look forming on his expression. All I need to do is to focus and I would be back at the Taylor Workshop, right? A look of discomfort then formed on his expression as he realized what awaited him once he returned. Shadow is definitely going to scold me for this. He took a deep breath. Well, I suppose it'll be better to deal with him over figuring out whether I can survive fall damage.

Shadow!Sonic then closed his eyes, vanishing is a flash of cyan light.

xXx

Team Neos had been observing Sonic, or rather, Shadow in Sonic's body, pacing around as he waited for Sonic in Shadow's body to appear again. Since they had no clue where the dark hedgehog ended up, that was all they could do, at least while they were trying to process the current situation. Suddenly, there was another flash of light, with Shadow!Sonic appearing, his expression showing relief when he realized that he was back. It quickly changed to fear when he saw the azure hedgehog glowering over him.

''I had told you not to use it!'' Sonic!Shadow growled, with Shadow!Sonic giving him a sheepish smile.

''I'm sorry, Shads… But, hey, nothing bad had happened,'' Shadow!Sonic responded, giving his now azure rival a confident smirk, only to be met by a scowl.

''That's exactly the problem! You never think ahead, Hedgehog, and that's what gets you in trouble,'' Sonic!Shadow scolded the dark hedgehog. ''Only because you have my powers doesn't mean that you can use them freely. Whether you have experience with a Chaos Emerald doesn't matter, because this is different. You're drawing from the innate Chaos Energy within your – my – body, and you don't know the limits of it.''

''I get it, Shads…'' Shadow!Sonic replied, his ears pinned down, only to flick when he realized something, causing him to grin. ''But, that means that you also have access to my super speed. If you want, I could teach you how to use it.''

''Tch, do you really think I'd an advice in regards to using your super speed?'' Sonic!Shadow responded, but his dark-furred counterpart kept up a smug smirk.

''Yeah, but this is different, isn't it? You typically combine your natural speed with your air shoes, instead of actually running like I do. It isn't as easy as you think,'' Shadow!Sonic replied, feeling amused as he took note of his rival's frown. He knew exactly which buttons to press to rile Shadow up and considering how annoyed the now azure hedgehog was due to the whole situation, it was quite easy to get him into the right mood.

''Hmph, I could easily beat you even when we're like this. As your earlier antics had proven, you have no clue what you're doing,'' Sonic!Shadow responded.

''Maybe if you taught me how to use your air shoes, we could see who the faster hedgehog is,'' Shadow!Sonic pointed, only for his azure rival to give him a knowing smirk.

''You wish. I know what you're trying to do, Faker, and I believe that it would be beneficial for you to stay put for once,'' Sonic!Shadow replied, watching with pleasure as a frown appeared on his dark-furred counterpart's expression. ''You finally wiped that stupid smirk off your face. It doesn't suit you.''

''Scowling doesn't suit you either, Shads,'' Shadow!Sonic responded in a smooth tone, not being someone to give up so easily, whether it was a battle or an argument. The azure hedgehog narrowed his eyes in response, folding his arms as he just glared back at his rival.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, the rest of Team Neos just observed their whole argument. Most of them had an uncertain look, just absorbing what was transpiring before them. It was kinda bizarre, but also kinda entertaining.

''You know, it's really strange to see Shadow being so expressive and Sonic constantly scowl. They look and talk the same, but their mannerism and actions are completely different,'' Minami said, breaking the silence.

''Shouldn't we do something to stop them?'' Silver asked, glancing at the rest of the group.

''Why? This is prime entertainment,'' Knuckles said, holding a bowl of grapes and eating them like popcorn. ''Want some?''

''Sure.'' Silver nodded and took a few, feeling a bit assured since no one else seemed to be in hurry to stop the two hedgehogs from arguing. Speaking of which, said argument was getting quite heated.

''Let's face it, Shads, you're afraid,'' Shadow!Sonic said, giving the azure hedgehog a self-satisfied look.

''Tch, what should I even be afraid of?'' Sonic!Shadow scoffed in response, his eyebrow raised, only for his rival to step closer, their bodies being only mere inches apart.

''That you won't be able to catch up to me, like, at all. You're out of your comfort zone, Mr. Former Ultimate Lifeform,'' Shadow!Sonic said in a teasing tone, a smirk spreading on his lips as he saw the anger in Shadow's, now emerald, eyes. He didn't even wince when his rival grabbed him by the arm, pulling him even closer, well aware that Shadow was at his breaking point.

''Only because you're in my body doesn't mean you know what it's like to be me,'' Sonic!Shadow growled in a low tone.

''I could say the same for you,'' Shadow!Sonic replied, feeling a strange fluttering in his chest as he realized just how close he and Shadow were, their bodies almost touching. ''Heh, you wanna kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid!''

Sonic!Shadow's emerald eyes widened for only a fraction of a moment at the comment, only to give his rival a sharp glare, baring his teeth as growled, ''Watch out what you're saying, Hedgehog, or you might get just what you deserve.''

''Uh, do you mean a kiss or getting punched? Because you're giving me mixed signals buddy,'' Shadow!Sonic said, raising his eyebrow as he was genuinely confused.

''Both!'' Sonic!Shadow snarled, not even registering what he had just said.

However, before either of them could get another word out, they were suddenly pushed apart by none other but Amy, who shot both of them a glare. ''Stop flirting you two!''

''We're not flirting!''

Both Sonic and Shadow shouted back in response, both looking quite flustered by her comment, but neither of them dared to say more when they realized that Amy was actually quite aggravated.

''Honestly, I don't care what this was, but you two should stop arguing! I understand that you're not happy about what happened, especially you Shadow, but that doesn't meant that you have to keep fighting like this. You're better than that!'' Amy said, glaring at the azure hedgehog, who lowered his head.

''I… I apologize,'' he muttered, trying to avoid eye-contact with Amy.

''And you, Sonic!'' Amy suddenly turned to the dark hedgehog, who winced when he saw her angry expression. ''You also know better than riling Shadow up like this, but instead you're only causing more trouble for yourself. I thought that you'd be a bit more mature about this, but I guess I was wrong!''

''I- I'm sorry, Amy,'' he responded, a look of guilt forming on his expression. Amy folded her arms across her chest.

''Instead of apologizing to me, you should apologize to each other. I know you get along well, and I thought I'd see more of that,'' she told the two. The two hedgehogs exchanged glances and then gave Amy a firm gaze.

''Sure, Shads and I do get along, Ames, and we may have taken it a bit too far, but…'' Shadow!Sonic started.

''This is also part of our dynamic. It might not look pretty to you, and you might not agree, but we're fine with it,'' Sonic!Shadow finished. Amy gave both of them a hard stare, as if daring them to say more, but both Sonic and Shadow refused. They might be The Fastest Thing Alive and The Ultimate Lifeform, but even they knew not to anger Amy further. Amy then sighed.

''Okay, but I will admit that I agree with Sonic on one point – you should try to get used to each other's powers in the meantime, just in case. Even if Dr. Eggman or Dr. Starline or even Irregulars aren't attacking the city, you'll never know what might happen,'' she told them. Shadow!Sonic's expression immediately lit up like a lightbulb, while Sonic!Shadow just gave her a look of irritation.

''Fine,'' Sonic!Shadow groaned, grabbing a surprised Shadow!Sonic by the arm and dragging him away. ''If we're going to do this, we might as well try to see who has the better control of the other's speed.''

''Awesome!'' Shadow!Sonic responded excitedly.

Amy then turned to Lucas and Touka, who had approached them. ''Honestly, I don't envy either of you for having to deal with them.''

Lucas and Touka just shrugged in response, following their partners to an empty street that they knew didn't have much traffic and where they could experiment with each other's speed powers in peace, with Sonic!Shadow launching into an explanation on how to use the air shoes to his rival.

''The air shoes have a jet propulsion that you can control at will,'' Sonic!Shadow explained, with Shadow!Sonic looking down at his footwear. ''It might be a bit hard for you to understand, since I can use them instinctually, but the point is that they respond to your mind and body. If you want to go, you just have to do so. The same goes for if you want to stop. You will have to get used to the feeling of gliding instead of running, though.''

''I see,'' Shadow!Sonic replied, a grin plastered on his expression when he turned to his rival. ''I guess I don't have to explain much about how to run, but watch out for surfaces that create less friction. Trust me, running on ice is a nightmare, and while I can run on water if I gain enough speed, it can be hard to maintain momentum.''

''I understand.'' Sonic!Shadow nodded, with the two getting in their positions, and with one assuring glance, both sped off the street. They didn't even notice Lucas and Touka standing behind them, with the two smiling.

''I guess we'll also be swapping partners tonight,'' Touka commented.

''Do you think you'll be able to handle Sonic for a night?'' Lucas asked wryly.

''Sure. I hope you'll also be able to deal with Shadow,'' Touka replied in the same tone.

''I don't think it'll be much of a problem,'' Lucas said in an assured tone.

xXx

Metal Sonic had to admit that this wasn't how he expected to spend his afternoon. He was in the living room at the Ahearn household, sitting on the edge of the couch with his legs crossed while watching some drama show on TV with the person he had slowly learned to loathe even more than his arch-enemy Sonic, mainly because of how much of an obnoxious roommate he was.

''Can you believe this?'' Starline turned to Metal Sonic, pointing with his hand at the TV as he continued in a bitter tone. ''She had promised him that they would be together forever, no matter what, but because of a simple mistake, he abandoned her- No, betrayed her! They were such a good team and he threw it away- for what?!''

Metal Sonic just gave Starline a side-eye, wondering how it would be to strangle that annoying platypus. He certainly would get some peace and quiet. As for Starline, he reached for the cup of ice-cream, eating another bite. While he had managed to recover during the past couple of days physically, his mental and emotional state was at an all time low, so he tried to find some comfort in ice-cream and a drama show that fit his tastes. Since he was fired from the Eggman Empire and couldn't go back to the Egg Base, he stayed at Ferra and Metal Sonic's home. Fortunately, her parents weren't at home, having gone on a vacation (and leaving a note to Ferra that she could go on her own once she earns it; not that Ferra cared about it), so no questions were asked about the platypus' presence.

''Okay, that's enough moping,'' Ferra said, coming out of the kitchen and stepping in front of the TV, giving Starline an annoyed look. ''I know you're angry and bitter for getting fired, something which was your fault, but don't think you'll be sitting on the couch like this for the rest of your life. I thought you'd bounce back with another plan at this point.''

''Well, I don't have another plan,'' Starline said, standing up, glaring at Ferra. ''All my life, I only wished to stand by Dr. Eggman's side and now that the Doctor has fired me, I have nothing to live for.''

''Oh, stop being so melodramatic!'' Ferra rolled her eyes. ''What about your contingency plans?''

''I don't have a contingency plan for what might happen if I get fired!'' Starline responded angrily. He sighed, holding his head with his hands and shaking it, being at his wits' end. ''I don't have anything to do!''

''Unfortunately, you can't stay here…'' Ferra trailed off as she thought for a moment, only to give Starline a curious look. ''Wait, what about Egg Base Sigma?''

''What about it? It has been abandoned after Mephiles and Toshiro brutally murdered Dr. Sakamoto,'' Starline said.

''Yeah, but would you be fine with staying there?'' Ferra suggested. Starline's eyes widened and he gave Ferra a look of surprise, then thought about her proposal.

''Actually, that doesn't sound bad. Even if I'm no longer a member of the Eggman Empire, this way, I would be close to the Doctor and maybe even figure out a plan to get back in his good graces,'' Starline said, elated. ''This is a genius idea! Let's leave right away!''

Ferra and Metal Sonic glanced at each other, both relieved that they would be finally getting rid off their roommate. As for what would happen afterwards, they would find out eventually.

xXx

''We're back!'' Touka called out as she and Shadow!Sonic entered the hallway, closing the door behind them. Kisaki had already returned from her work, having settled down in front of the TV, with a box of pizza and an open can of lemon soda on the coffee table.

''Welcome home! I hope you don't mind having pizza for dinner. I know that it was my turn to make dinner, but I didn't have the time for cooking anything,'' Kisaki said, watching the hedgehog she believed to be Shadow quickly walk over to the coffee table and grab a slice of pizza.

''I don't mind,'' he said, happily eating it. Kisaki blinked in surprise, turning to Touka.

''Eh, Touka, what's wrong with Shadow? I mean, I never saw him this… joyful,'' she said. Touka snorted, grabbing a slice of her own and sat down on the couch.

''Actually, that's Sonic. He and Shadow accidentally ended up swapping bodies and will remain like this until Warren and Tails repair the device that caused this,'' Touka explained.

''Ah, I see. You guys really have a habit of getting yourselves into all kinds of trouble,'' Kisaki said. ''I can only imagine how Shadow feels about this.''

''Well, he certainly isn't happy,'' Shadow!Sonic replied. ''He did agree to stay with Lucas, though, since he figured that it would be better if Touka keeps an eye on me.''

''I see. Good luck on resolving this issue,'' Kisaki replied, with the three enjoying their dinner in peace. Shadow!Sonic and Touka exchanged glances, both grinning in amusement.

After dinner, Touka and Shadow!Sonic went upstairs, with the dark hedgehog immediately looking around the room, taking note that it had slightly changed since the last time he was here. In fact, there were a few posters of motorcycles that weren't there before, with Sonic figuring that those were put up by Shadow. He then turned back to Touka, a wide grin on his expression.

''Does Shadow have any hobbies or stuff he likes to do?'' he asked.

''Why are you asking?'' Touka asked, raising an eyebrow.

''I had figured that, while I'm here, I might as well learn more about Shadow; like, the stuff he hadn't told me yet, so we could have more to talk about. Since you're his sister, you would know him best,'' Shadow!Sonic replied.

''So, you're being sneaky,'' Touka said, folding her arms across her chest. ''I don't think Shadow would be too happy about me sharing personal information, even if it's you.''

''Yeah, I know, but…''

''Don't worry, since it's you, I'm comfortable sharing some stuff,'' Touka added, winking at him, and walked over to a bookshelf. ''Shadow likes to read books in his free time.''

''Really? That's cool! What kind of books?'' Shadow!Sonic replied, walking over and grabbing a light novel from the bookshelf. ''I Reincarnated into an Otome Game as a Villainess With Only Destruction Flags… That's a weird title.''

''Ah, that's mine!'' Touka quickly grabbed the light novel. ''I recently got into a light novel and manga genre about the protagonist getting reincarnated as the villainess of a novel or a video game.'' She then gave him a few other books from the bookshelf. ''These are the books Shadow likes to read. It's mainly dystopia – lone wolf-type of characters who fight back against an unfair status quo society and/or the government had put them in – and murder mystery.''

''I see…'' Shadow!Sonic took a look at the books she gave him, one of which was a manga that had a bookmark in it. He flipped it open, showing a scene of a young boy with glasses talking into a bowtie as he revealed the method of how the victim had been murdered and who the murderer was. He grinned, being quite excited to read through the material he was given.

''You know Sonic…'' The hedgehog looked up at the teenager, with Touka giving him a sincere smile. ''I know that it's a bit weird saying it out loud, especially after putting you through a lot of trouble, but I'm really happy that Shadow trusts you so much. Back then, we both thought that our life would continue as before, that we would be able to only rely on each other. Neither of us, Shadow especially, had expected that we would become so close with you and the rest of Team Neos, let alone fight side by side. So, if you don't mind, whenever I'm not around, could you please take care of Shadow?''

The hedgehog's eyes widened at this question, or rather, at this plea, and he nodded, giving Touka a confident look.

''Yeah, I can do that,'' Sonic replied. ''After all, Shadow is also a very important to me.''

xXx

Sonic!Shadow stared curiously at the photo of Lucas and his parents, before turning around to take another look at the living room. The house was rather quiet, having a feeling of emptiness to it, with the quiet noise from the TV being the only thing that give the impression that there was someone inside it. Sonic!Shadow had to admit that, while he was quite content with the silence, it felt as if something was missing. Lucas certainly wasn't someone who'd pry into his personal business and he was thankful for that, but he had gotten used to Touka's presence and bickering with her.

''Are you okay?'' Sonic!Shadow looked up, taking note of Lucas entering the room after he had washed the dishes. The hedgehog just nodded in response, with Lucas beckoning him to follow him. ''Since Sonic is staying with Touka, you can sleep in his room tonight. Admittedly, he usually doesn't care where he falls asleep, so I usually find him sleeping on the couch.'' He chuckled lightly, opening the door to Sonic's room, only for Lucas' expression change to that of second-hand embarrassment. ''I had told Sonic this morning to clean up.''

He sighed as he entered the room, with Sonic!Shadow following him inside, taking note of the mess. There were wrappers and soda bottles on the floor, along with books and manga and the bed was unmade. Lucas grabbed a nearby trash bin, throwing in the wrappers in, while the hedgehog walked over to the books, some of which were open.

''I had no idea that Sonic was interested in reading books,'' he muttered.

''For someone who gets easily bored if he stands in one place for longer than five minutes, he actually is an avid reader. From what I've seen, he prefers books about adventures, with enough action and good storytelling to keep him hooked. He isn't the type to read books with boring descriptions, where barely anything happens,'' Lucas explained. ''The book you're holding is about a knight who goes on adventures helping people.''

''Do you have spare bookmarks?'' Sonic!Shadow asked.

''Yeah, sure,'' Lucas said, quickly going to his own room and returning with a few bookmarks, one of which the hedgehog inserted between the pages.

When Lucas gave him a curious look, Sonic!Shadow replied, ''I believe that Sonic left it lying like this because this was the page he was reading.''

''I guess that makes sense,'' Lucas replied, returning to cleaning the room, while Sonic!Shadow picked up the rest of the books, finding one more that was open on a specific page. This was actually a manga, the page depicting a giant cartoony character with white hair emerging out of the dark clouds and confronting an eastern-looking dragon. The hedgehog then realized that Lucas was peering over his shoulder, looking genuinely surprised. ''Huh, I had no idea he made it to the Gear 5 Luffy VS Kaido battle. That's really late into the story.''

''I suppose that the story was interesting enough to keep him invested,'' Sonic!Shadow replied.

''Yeah, it is,'' Lucas nodded. ''Sonic had actually once told me that reading a book is like going on an adventure in your head. I can only share the sentiment, especially since I was never keen on going on actual adventures. I was satisfied with just staying at home the whole day.''

''That mindset did change eventually, didn't it?'' Sonic!Shadow asked.

''You're right, and I solely blame Sonic for that,'' Lucas said, smiling sincerely. ''There is something about him, something that just inspires you to explore the world in a way you never imagined. Honestly, I'm really happy that I had met him, because without him, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have met any of the other friends or gone on all of those adventures.''

''He really is the kind of person who inspires you to become the best version of yourself,'' Shadow agreed, a tiny smile forming on his lips.

xXx

''Okay, I'm done here!'' Tails said, exiting the AR Field, with Warren, who was holding the Miles Electric, giving him a thumbs up.

''Good thing that we kept the blueprints and that there was some residual data from when the body swap had happened, so we could reverse this without any problems,'' Warren added, looking up. He and Tails had spent a good amount of the previous day to repair the scanner and get it to work properly this time. ''Now, where are these two…''

Both Tails and Warren were startled when a blue and orange blur suddenly dashed towards them, stopping right before the two and kicking up a cloud of dust, once again arguing over who had won.

''I was faster!''

''Tch, then why did I see you behind me?''

''Hey, it was a tie!'' Tails interrupted the two hedgehogs, pointing with his thumb at the AR Field. ''Now, could you both please go inside so Warren and I can turn the scanner on? You can continue arguing over who is faster afterwards.''

''Sure, Tails! While I got the hang of Shadow's powers, it would be nice to be back in my own body,'' Shadow!Sonic said.

''I can only agree,'' Sonic!Shadow added, with both then entering the AR Field. Tails joined Warren as they observed the data shown, activating the scanner. It took only a few moments, but when the AR Field vanished, it was quickly made clear that it worked.

''Alright! I'm back to being blue!'' Sonic exclaimed as he looked down at his body, a wide grin on his expression. ''Man, I missed being myself!''

''I don't think you ever stopped being yourself,'' Shadow commented idly, arms folded across his chest.

''Is that supposed to be a compliment?'' Sonic asked him in a deadpan tone. Before Shadow could even respond, Tails suddenly interfered.

''If you two are going to start another fight, how about taking it somewhere where you won't destroy any of our inventions?'' he said, shooting both of them an annoyed look. Sonic gave him a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head, while a look of guilt creeped up on Shadow's expression.

''Don't worry, we won't do anything like this again, we promise!'' Sonic assured him, with Shadow nodding in agreement. Sonic then elbowed Shadow, giving him a challenging smirk. ''Now, how about we finally finish that race? I recall being ahead of you.''

''Weren't you the one who tackled me because you were losing?'' Shadow responded, with an awkward look forming on Sonic's expression as he remembered what had happened.

''Well… We could then start the race from there,'' he suggested.

''We could,'' Shadow said, only to startle Sonic when he sped off. The sense of awkwardness was quickly replaced with determination when Sonic rushed off after Shadow, leaving Tails and Warren. The two just glanced at each other, sighing in exasperation at the two hedgehogs' antics.

xXx

Sonic took a deep breath, stretching his arms and feeling quite content as he observed the sunset before him. He was on top of a building, with Shadow sitting right next to him as they decided to take a break from their race battle. The race in question was another tie, but neither hedgehog looked displeased with the result, having enjoyed the challenge that it brought. There was still a bit of a tension between them, though, since the adrenaline from the race still hadn't settled down.

''That was a long day… Don't you think the same, Shads?'' Sonic asked.

''More like two long days,'' Shadow muttered, leaning his elbow on his knee, while supporting himself with the other hand. He glanced at Sonic, who just gave him a wide grin. Shadow sighed in response, gazing ahead. ''Admittedly, it was an interesting experience.''

''I think it was really exciting,'' Sonic replied, drawing Shadow's attention, ''To see what being you is like. I sincerely doubt that I would get the full experience, but you're free to talk about it to me if you feel comfortable.''

''I sincerely hope that this won't happen again,'' Shadow replied, his eyes narrowing.

''Awww, com'n, it wasn't that bad,'' Sonic replied in a cheerful tone, only to see the unamused look Shadow was giving him. Sonic smiled sheepishly, having to admit that he did cause a lot of trouble while being in Shadow's body. ''I'm sorry for getting on your nerves,'' Sonic suddenly said, surprising Shadow. ''Amy was right, I shouldn't have made you so angry.''

''My responses to you weren't better either. I could've handled this differently, but I didn't,'' Shadow replied. ''You're not the only one who has to apologize.''

''Heh, I guess we're really alike in that regard. Still, no harm was done,'' Sonic said, with Shadow nodding in agreement.

''We know each other's limits better than anyone else, and I doubt you would cross my boundaries for no reason,'' Shadow said.

''Thanks for trusting me so much, buddy,'' Sonic replied, with Shadow taking note of his confident look. ''I really appreciate it.''

''You may be really irritating, but you did prove yourself as someone who can be relied on even in the worst of situations,'' Shadow replied. Sonic sweatdropped, sighing.

''Honestly, what's up with all those backhanded compliments? You just can't tell me anything nice without disguising it as an insult,'' he told Shadow, with a wry smile forming on his lips.

''I'm simply telling you the truth. Your methods are annoying, your jokes are unfunny, your skills are undisciplined, your optimistic outlook towards others is naive, and your shoes are garish…'' Shadow started, with Sonic giving him an irritated look.

''Okay, you can say whatever you want about my skills or jokes, but don't insult my kicks,'' Sonic responded, shooting his rival a glare, but Shadow continued without a beat.

''And yet, despite all of that, I can't say that I have any reservations when it comes to fighting by your side. It has been a source of bewilderment for me ever since I met you,'' he said.

''In other words, I've been always on your mind,'' Sonic said, giving him a sly smile.

''Don't take things out of context,'' Shadow replied, trying to sound irritated and failing, as Sonic just kept up the grin. Shadow sighed, adding, ''I didn't know that you were interested in reading.''

''Same here… Did you read any of my books?'' Sonic asked, with Shadow nodding.

''Also, your room is a mess. I sincerely hope you aren't always so sloppy,'' he added, with Sonic looking a little alarmed.

''I genuinely forgot about that. I wanted to clean up, but then I got your message about the race and left without thinking…'' Sonic muttered, quickly changing the topic. ''Anyways, what did you think about the books?''

''I have read a few chapters just to see what you're interested in, and I can understand your investment in them. It really felt like having an adventures in your head,'' Shadow said.

''Lucas told you that, didn't he?'' Sonic said, with Shadow nodding. ''I tried to read the books you were reading, especially the dystopian one… and it really takes a while for anything to happen. A lot of it is just description of the setting. I didn't even know who the main protagonist was until a few chapters in.''

''Don't worry, it gets interesting later on, and the set up is necessary,'' Shadow replied.

''I'll take your word for it,'' Sonic replied.

The two then fell silent, gazing ahead at the sunset as their environment grew darker and darker, with the stars appearing in the purple and blue sky. They could feel the chilly breeze ruffling their fur, with Shadow closing his eyes to enjoy the moment. It didn't last long, as he could sense Sonic shifting next to him, and he opened his eyes to see his rival leaning closer, placing an arm over his shoulder. Shadow rose an eyebrow.

''What are you doing?'' he asked.

''I remember you telling me that you're fine with being comforted like this,… right?'' Sonic gave him a nervous smile.

Shadow's gaze was stern, leaving the azure hedgehog a bit anxious as he wondered whether he pushed it too far. To his relief, Shadow leaned against him, arms folded across his chest, with both of them feeling quite cosy like this. Sonic felt his heart flutter, having to admit that he genuinely liked sitting like this, even more since it was clear that Shadow was just as comfortable with this position, and wanted it to last as long as possible.

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