#my method for classwork is to just get that shit done as quickly as i can so i can have as much time as i want to do whatever

[baphofemme]

on one hand it's a relief i don't have a fuckton of class work to do this week but on the other i already know my procrastinating ass is playing a dangerous game with such circumstances 😭

[imagine-loki]

Gifted

TITLE: Gifted (Sequel to Giftless)

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 11/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: 

Imagine that you are Stark’s niece and you secretly share a strong relationship with Loki since he entered the crew. One day you get hurt so bad during a mission that you are about to die.  Loki knows a spell that will save you and share his immortality with you but you and he will be linked forever sharing thoughts, pain, emotions…

RATING: T NOTES/WARNINGS:  Also on AO3 click here

Somehow, Loki didn’t fight you the next morning when you insisted that you needed to go to class. He understood keeping up with your studies, even if he did want you to rest properly.  At least you only had a couple of lecture classes that day, so it wouldn’t be too strenuous.  You’d agreed that Loki could come with you as long as he didn’t misbehave too terribly during them. 

You laughed at him when he tried to leave the tower in his black suit of sexiness. He wasn’t dressing in his battle armor, since he wasn’t technically coming as your guard, but he wasn’t going to fit in wearing a full suit on campus.  Especially not that suit. “You can’t dress like that for college. Unless you’re teaching the class. And even then…” He looked at you confused. You were wearing your usual jeans, t-shirt, converse, and a hoodie stolen from Loki’s closet, your hair braided out of your way. Loki sighed, looking put upon, but magicked himself a pair of perfectly tailored jeans and a comfortable, but elegant sweater. You rolled your eyes, but that was the best you were going to get out of him. “Sit,” you told him, pushing him to one of the nearby chairs.

“So demanding this morning,” he teased, but sat obediently in the chair you’d pushed him into.  You weren’t giving him much of a choice.  Sure he could overpower you, but that would upset you, which he didn’t want.

“You’re trying to blend in, right?” you asked. He sighed, looking even more put-upon, but let you brush his shoulder-length hair. He pretended to be annoyed, but was purring within moments of you touching his hair.  You were one of the very few who could get away with touching his precious hair and he cherished the touch.  You pulled it quickly into a slightly messy manbun at the back of his head.

“What did you do to my hair?” he asked when he stood again and saw it in a mirror. He wasn’t upset, just curious.  You hadn’t hurt his hair or cut it off, so you were safe from his ire.

“Lots of guys wear their hair like that now. It lets you get away with having long hair without people thinking it’s weird,” you explained easily.  You then gave him a mischievous grin and stood up on your toes to place a kiss on part of his neck that was usually covered in hair. “Plus I can do that,” you replied while he shivered at the new sensation and purred. 

You drove to campus and parked, mostly because Loki didn’t know exactly where he was going. He offered to teleport you, but you reminded him again that you were trying to blend in and lie low. It was hard enough blending in being who you were.

Once you had parked, you led Loki to the campus coffee shop to get caffeine. The barista started making your order the second you walked in. You were definitely a regular.  You placed an order for Loki, choosing something he’d like, since he’d never been there before and didn’t know what to order for himself. “New boyfriend?” the barista asked when you picked up your drink. Which was announced for ‘Sigyn’ even when you hadn’t given your name.

You grinned at her. “Nope, same boyfriend I’ve had for two years,” you replied. She just stared when she realized that meant that the man with you was the real Loki. “It’s just his first time visiting campus,” you handed Loki his drink and you left the shop to walk to class. It was nice feeling normal for once, getting to stroll to class with your boyfriend. You strolled leisurely across the beautiful campus and made it to class in plenty of time.

The lecture hall was huge and you hoped the professor wouldn’t notice the extra student. You didn’t need to worry. If they noticed, they wisely didn’t say anything. There were whispers from some of the students, but nothing major that you couldn’t ignore. 

You had to stab Loki hard in the side with a pen when he was flirting innocently with some of the college girls who wouldn’t leave him alone. They giggled at his expression when he got ‘caught’. Silly Trickster boyfriend. He didn’t cause too much trouble though, so you took him out to a yummy lunch on campus. It wasn’t a fancy place, since it was on a college campus, but it was still a nice meal.

After your other class of the day, you headed back to the tower. You’d had to promise Tony and Pepper that you would hang out with them some that weekend instead of just hiding in your apartment. You also had no food in your apartment and didn’t want to go shopping, so you let Loki drive you home to the tower. He really liked driving because he couldn’t on Asgard; he also liked being the gentleman and doing the driving.  He could be extremely old fashioned at times.

You did your homework quickly for the weekend in your pajamas in the common room. You weren’t going anywhere else that afternoon, so it really didn’t matter if you were in pajamas. Even if your uncle grumbled that you were wearing a spaghetti strap tank top. It wasn’t scandalous, but he was your uncle and claimed he didn’t want to see that much skin. 

You luckily didn’t have much homework, but you still wanted it all done so you could enjoy your weekend. You also really loved having access to all of Loki’s knowledge through the soulbond. It made your classwork and homework a lot easier. Yes, it was cheating. No, you didn’t care. You were too overworked as it was. And it wasn’t like you didn’t know the information.  You were just doing the college thing at all to get the degree.

While you were working on homework, Loki got a summons to go talk to Fury. He looked worried at leaving you and really didn’t like Fury much, so didn’t want to see him.. “Lo, it’ll be what, five minutes? You know Fury doesn’t do speeches. I’m just going to sit here and finish this assignment. He probably just has some paperwork or something for you to fill out,” you reminded him. 

He sighed, but got off of the couch and moved to your end of the couch to lean down and give you a kiss. “I will return soon,” he promised. He teleported down to Fury’s office and you went back to your assignment. 

You should’ve known things wouldn’t stay quiet.

A few minutes after Loki had left, the one of the apprentice healers portaled into the room. “Kat, good, you’re here!” she exclaimed. 

You shook your head, hurt that you wouldn’t be able to help with whatever emergency they had found this time. “I can’t help, Claire,” you reminded her, holding up your wrist with the bangle on it. You knew for a fact that all of the healers had been warned that you were out of commission.  Claire completely ignored you, grabbed your hand, made a portal, and dragged you through it. “Claire, I literally cannot help,” you reminded her again. Usually the healers weren’t quite this ninny-like.

“All of the healers are tapped or out on patrol. You’re the only one with any juice left. You have to take this case, Kat,” she pleaded. There weren’t many healers, really besides Healer Julia most of them only had a touch of healing power in addition to their main ability. You sighed and let her drag you to Healer Julia’s desk. Julia was nearly passed out sitting at her desk chair, you could see how drained she was. She recovered insanely quickly, in a couple hours she’d be fine to work again, but she didn’t have the same level of healing strength that you did.

“I know you’re off duty,” Julia greeted you when you were standing in front of her desk. “But it’s Pepper-”

“Aunt Pepper?” you demanded, completely on alert then. “What happened?” you asked, your brain automatically going into healer mode and emergency to deal with mode.  It was the same state you’d been in for most of the last year and your mind instantly wanted to help.

“She was severely injured on patrol.” That was strange. Middle of the day patrols were notoriously safe. Pepper should have been fine. Hel, she shouldn’t have even been out on patrol.  She should’ve been at Stark Industries.  

Julia was digging in her desk drawer for something. She dumped the entire drawer’s contents on the floor and pulled out a key from the mess. “Your uncle should forgive you for this when you save his fiancee,” Julia replied with a glint in her eye. She unlocked the metal bangle around your wrist. She had the whole rest of the infirmary to deal with. Leaving you just the one patient.

Tony was going to kill you, but you couldn’t let Pepper die. They wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t urgent. “Where is she?” you demanded of Claire. You ran together to the emergency bay. 

You knew the second that you saw Pepper that the healers were right to call you. You had seen wounds that bad and in this same method only twice before. Pepper had been impaled by a large metal spear. “This is bad,” you told Claire. She didn’t have healing magic, but volunteered in the infirmary anyway. You had to focus to call up your healing magic, to get your hands to glow. 

Shit. 

You was still too drained for this healing, but you were going to have to do it anyway. You were the only one who could, if you wanted Pepper to live. Pepper had been nearly gutted when she was impaled. She would die and you couldn’t let that happen. 

You went to her side, your hands just above the wound in her chest. “Pull the spear,” you told Claire firmly. You had gotten used to taking charge in the infirmary over the past year and the healers obeyed your orders without question.  You placed both of your hands on Pepper’s wounds the second the spear was cleared and threw every ounce of power you could muster into her, praying it would be enough to save her.

Tony would be devastated if Pepper didn’t survive.

You didn’t know how long the healing took. You were low enough on power that you were lost to the healing trance. You’d had to let it sweep over you, sweep you away before you could even start the healing. Things were bad when you had to let the power guide you and not the other way around.

“Kat! No!” you heard Loki’s voice from far away. His cool arms wrapped firmly around your waist and hauled you bodily away from Pepper’s bed, breaking your physical contact with her. Your powers were too weak to do the healing with out touching her and the magic snapped.

“Loki?” you asked softly, confused. You looked over Pepper. She was healed, or very nearly. She’d be sore, might scar, but she was healed. She would be just fine.

Loki carefully set you on your feet, like he was evaluating-

Your legs buckled and you would’ve been on the ground if his arms hadn’t still been around you. He caught you easily and supported you.  “M‘m ok,” you murmured, wondering why your vision was dark and getting blacker by the moment. He cursed and you looked up at him, still confused. You were just tired from the massive healing. He held you against him with one arm and used his other hand to summon a portal, through which your uncle fell.  It seemed he’d picked up the portal trick from Doctor Strange. 

“What the hell?” Tony roared in anger. Loki lifted you off of your feet and handed you to Tony.

“Keep her away from Lady Potts,” Loki ordered, gesturing to Pepper on the bed. He stormed out of the room without another word. 

“Kat? What’s going on-? Shit! What the hell happened to you?” Tony demanded, turning his attention to you, even above Pepper. He laid you on the couch in the emergency bay.

“I’m fine, Tony,” you tried to insist.

“You’re bleeding from your eyes, and nose, and ears,” Tony replied as he looked you over. “You haven’t been able to move an inch since I got here. And your eyes are…black. What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded, terror in his voice.  This was magic.  Tony couldn’t fix magic. 

“Pepper,” you told him simply. It finally got through to his brain that it was Pepper lying on the bed. “Go to her. I’m fine,” you added. You weren’t fine.  You were a dirty, rotten liar.  Now that the adrenaline of emergency healing was gone, you realized how badly you weren’t fine. Luckily, you were bound to the god of lies, and Tony believed you.  Or at least believed you enough to determine you were stable while he evaluated Pepper. 

Loki stormed back in a minute later. He ran to your side when he realized that Tony was dealing with Pepper and not you. “You were supposed to take care of her,” Loki growled at Tony.  He had left you in your uncle’s care.

“She’s fine,” Tony replied, too busy examining his fiancée.  He really thought you were stable.

“She is anything but fine. Her body was seconds from shutting down. I don’t even know how she even completed that healing. She should have passed out long before she got to this state.” Loki replied heatedly, fretting over you.  

“Lo, the wound-” you had to tell him where you’d seen it before. Each breath hurt, everything hurt.  Your body was pissed at your abuse of it.  

You managed to move your hand enough to touch Loki’s. You could switch to telepathy with physical contact.  You were too weak to do it otherwise.  /I’ve only seen that kind of wound twice before. When Thor did it to you and Tony/ you told him, desperate to deliver your message.

“Stop that,” Loki snapped at your use of telepathy.  You realized how bad you must look when his voice turned harsh toward you. He fastened the bangle back around your wrist himself. 

Yeah, he was pissed. 

“We will deal with Thor later. Right now, we are leaving.” Loki scooped you up in his cool arms. You couldn’t have fought him if you wanted to. You didn’t want to. You wanted to rest and sleep forever and your head lulled onto his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Tony demanded, whirling when Loki said you were leaving.

“I’m taking her to Asgard. She obviously cannot get any rest here. She would have died today had I not intervened,” Loki told him, not bothering to mince his words.

“Couldn’t let Pepper die,” you replied sleepily, your eyes closing when you were safely in Loki’s arms.

“Stay awake, darling, just a little longer,” he bid you, finally softening his tone. 

Tony reluctantly nodded once.

“Go. Get her out of here. You’re right. This just proves that we can’t keep them from abusing her kindness or her healing gift. Not while she’s here.” Tony came over to Loki, and therefore to you. “Thanks for saving her, imp. Now go rest. You need to heal.” He kissed your forehead. “Take care of her,” he ordered Loki. Loki nodded, then recited the spell to open the portal back to Asgard.

[ash-clarington]

WHO:  Ash & Dani ( @daniharperdominant ) WHEN: Sunday morning 2/7 WHAT: Hangover ; the morning after their night out doesn’t go as well as planned    WARNINGS: um sads 

Ash's temples throbbed and her mouth was dry but she was warm and there was a solid presence against her that she automatically leaned into as she woke. The submissive blinked against the bright sunlight coming through the window and she groaned as the heavy drained feeling of coming down from a high she hadn't had in a while set it. The night having not come back to her yet she burring her face in the closest part of Dani she could reach and closed her eyes again, content to try and go back to sleep as she hid from the morning sun.

Dani's night had been one of...mixed emotions.  The drinks and the dancing, the touching and the exploration on the dance floor, it had been just what she needed.  And what she hoped Ash needed.  And then Ash had disappeared.  The same Ash who had been involved in an incident that not only cost them all privileges but also nearly cost Ash her life.  And she'd vanished like the breeze, only to reappear after a desperate search high as a kite.  Dani was angry, and disappointed, but that night hadn't been the time to deal with it.  Instead she'd shepherded the wayward submissive home and gotten her into bed to sleep it off, planning to deal with it in the morning.  When Ash began to stir against her Dani sighed, knowing it was almost time for a hard conversation.

By the time Ash had begun to fully wake up she was already wrapped up in Dani but when she opened her eyes a second time she found she was being observed and just as the submissive's brow creased, just as she was about to use her sandpaper tongue to drop a playful quip about what the Domme was looking at she recalled how they had left the club. Ash's mind worked backwards from the moment Dani had coaxed her into an uber and back and she felt herself physically shrink away and disengage. "Morning." She all but croaked, testing the waters for if it was as bad as she was remembering it being.

Ash looked to be in exactly the kind of shape Dani had expected her to be.  She was glad that she'd waited through the night before she'd said anything, though, because the anger that had coursed through her veins the night before had mostly departed and she was left with just the disappointment that lingered.  "Good morning," she replied softly.  "How are you feeling today?"  The answer to that was obvious, but it was a better start to the conversation than what she wanted to say.  That talk could come afterward.  "Get any sleep last night?"

Ash rubbed her eyes undoubtedly smearing last nights makeup further than it already was and gathered herself to sit up. Settling upright and hugging her knees to her chest, the submissive tugged at the soft tshirt she recognized as Dani's but had no recollection of putting on. "More than most nights." Ash replied first, a hint of challenge in her voice. It wasn't a lie, she had knocked out hard the night before. The only other time Ash was getting any sleep these days was after exhausting herself with scenes, or classwork, or cleaning. Last nights method didn't require nearly as much effort. She gave a shrug, "I feel fine, Miss." Ash felt like shit and some part of her became hyper aware of the omission, driving her to add, "A bit hungover...

"Hungover," Dani replied softly.  She wasn't sure where she was finding the effort to control her temper, but she was glad for it.  "I'm not shocked.  I'd be surprised if you could stand without help this morning."  Her throat worked as she tried to formulate words.  "I am glad that you got some sleep, though.  You looked like you needed it.  How much of last night do you remember, exactly?"  She needed to know that before she said much else.

If Dani was asking if she remembered their dancing, with the Domme's hand up her skirt, or their shared drinks, or the moment in the night were alcohol wasn't enough and strangers to score from were like a godsend of an opportunity---then Ash remembered it all. Even some parts of their journey home were coming back to her as they spoke, the main part being feeling at ease in the back of a car neither of them were driving despite her knowledge of Dani's pivot in mood by then. "Plenty." She said, fighting the urge to begin fleeing. Ash would have been fine finding her clothes and leaving with no further discussion. Preferred it even but she also didn't actually want to pull away from the Domme and was hoping this wasn't going were she suspected.

"I see.  That's good - I'd hate for you not to know what I'm talking about."  The conversation was going to be unpleasant enough without her having to explain it.  "First of all, I want you to know that you're safe.  I'm not your old Domme, and me being unhappy doesn't mean that you're in some kind of danger.  But I do have to tell you that I'm disappointed.  And hurt.  And I'm going to explain why." She swallowed.  "I went out with you last night as a Dominant.  Your Dominant, at least for the night.  Which means that above all else, your safety is my responsibility.  Something that I take incredibly seriously.  And you took that ability to keep you safe away from me when you snuck off without me to score.  After a punishment that was applied to the entire school the last time you did, after nearly dying the last time you did, you left me on a dance floor trying to find you.  For God's sake, Ash.  If you had just told me what you needed, I could have been there.  To keep an eye on you while you used, and make sure that you were safe.  Instead you cut me out.  You took that away from me.  And I don't know what to think about that.  Whether it's because you don't trust me enough, or that you feel the need to hide from me, whatever it is it doesn't do wonders for my feelings."

Ash sensed the shift immediately, nothing that started off with first of all was going to be good and she prepared herself but Ash wasn't expecting the instant and conflicting reaction at mention of her ex and her past. She physically winced, her eyes closing against any of the number of memories flooding in of a change of mood and suddenly being turned on. Though the submissive also felt her chest swell hearing the reassurance of Dani promising to be nothing like that. It reminded Ash to take a breath as she listened, expressionless. "I..." She started to respond and then stopped, trying to process. Ash did trust Dani, she almost said it right then but it got caught up in her tightening throat. The Dominant was hurt? That had not been the intention and Ash had to think over Dani's very plain and direct words twice before she managed to grasp at them. "It... wasn't planned." Is what spilled out in response and an apology felt close behind. Ash knew Dani was right because the moment she had slipped away from the dance floor the guilt had already begun seeping in, only alleviated by the drugs hitting her system before she had reunited with the Dominant again.  It had also lifted an unnamed ache the submissive had been carrying around with her for weeks so at the time, it hadn't mattered. In the light of the day however the same way Ash couldn't escape her headache, she couldn't escape the familiar shame of disappointment that settled in. And she hated it. Fear and shame had once been intertwined so closely that her pulse quickly elevated on instinct and in anticipation and Ash steeled herself as her breaths came shorter and quicker. She had gotten so used to being her own keeper at times it hadn't occurred to her that Dani would have been so bothered. "I'm sorry." She tried, her voice sounding small to her ears in a way she hated the most.

Dani nodded, letting out a breath.  "That's what I needed to hear."  Ash's quick breathing bothered her, though, and she made a gesture meant to bring the woman into her arms.  "It's alright, Ash.  It's okay.  You're safe here with me.  I'm not going to hurt you," she repeated.  There were going to have to be consequences for what had happened, but the most important thing in the moment was that Ash know this wasn't going to be like her past.  She wouldn't be hurt or abused simply because Dani had been worried and felt slighted, it wasn't the kind of Dominant she was or would ever hope to be. "And above all else, I want you to know that my biggest concern this morning was making sure that you were all right.  I stayed up a lot of the night to be sure that you were still okay and I was very glad that nothing happened I needed to call anyone for.  That I could take care of you myself."

The invitation was tempting but Ash hesitated, swaying toward Dani as if she were going to move to lay beside her but she stopped herself. "It wasn't a huge deal." The submissive promised, trying to brush it off. A few bumps one night out of the week certainly wasn't the worst Ash could do and it wasn't as if she was gone for long. That part however, she kept to herself. She wouldn't take back an apology and she'd meant it. Ash didn't want to upset Dani, that was the last thing she wanted, but if Dani had wanted her on a leash the least she could have done was supply it. "I'm fine. You didn't have to do that, Miss." Nervous energy got Ash on her feet, and she dug through her growing emotions to grasp at where any of her clothes might be. There wasn't enough serotonin leftover in her system to combat or navigate the duality of building panic and a growing stubbornness.

"It was a big deal to me," Dani shook her head.  She wasn't a fan of the way that Ash was trying to minimize something that had made her very upset.  "I know you are, now.  I didn't know that you would be last night, because again - I wasn't there.  I had no idea how much you'd taken or even what you'd taken."  When Ash got on her feet Dani decided she'd had enough.  "Sit down."  Her voice was very much her Domme voice now.  "Right now."

The submissive stopped in her tracks, stilling under Dani's tone and she reminded herself of how the Dominant had started this conversation before she turned around. Her heart hammered and she wanted nothing more than to tell her no and continue with leaving like she wanted to but Ash buckled under Dani's gaze and she moved herself back to sit at the edge. "Thank you for taking me out last night, Miss. But I don't need a lecture and I..." Ash averted her eyes and pressed her fingernails into her palms in her lap. "I want to leave. Please."

Dani frowned.  "I have no intention of lecturing you, Ash.  And if you need to leave, then I'll let you.  But before you go, I want it understood that either now or later I'm going to ask you to consent to a punishment.  I don't think that I need to explain why.  So if you need to leave right now and recover, compose yourself, we can do it tomorrow.  But I would rather get it handled today."

It wasn't unexpected, Dani had made her disappointment very clear but Ash didn't have a handle on herself enough for a punishment just yet. She couldn't even look the Dominant in the eye. Her eyes stung and she nodded her understanding. Time to herself, to recover was exactly what Ash needed. She couldn't stomach crumbling in front of Dani before kneeing for her. If she was going to accept a punishment she would do it with her head up and without the sickening nausea of her hangover. "I just need a few hours..." She said, swallowing a few times to rid the thickness from her throat.

Dani nodded.  She wasn't going to push through something that had the potential to damage Ash, especially given what she knew about her past, and so if she needed time alone before a punishment that was fine with her.  "Very well - that's fine, Ash, and thank you for telling me what you need.  I appreciate that very much.  Go ahead and get dressed, please, and then you can go.  Come back to me when you feel ready."

As soon as permission was given Ash was off the bed again with a muttered "Thank you." She found her skirt over the back of a desk chair and didn't bother to zip it after she'd tugged it on. With a half sort of glance back in the Dominant's direction the urge to apologize again caused Ash to hesitate by the door but ultimately she gave another nod and slipped out. Going straight from Dani's room to her own in a specific sort of walk of shame she did not care for.

The moment the door closed behind Ash, Dani flopped backwards onto the bed and pulled a pillow over her face to let out a scream of frustration.  She hated giving out punishments, but she also knew when there was no choice, and this was one of those times.  The fact that it was Ash only made it more difficult and less wanted.  But she needed to follow through, and it was that simple.