* HEIR / LOOM !

Lio drummed her fingers against the table. In front of her, android schematics forgotten and a latte rapidly cooling in front of her. Too much was going. She heard the hum of the air conditioning. (There was to find air conditioning unit and take it apart, either to find out what was wrong or make it better if nothing was.) She watched the queue. She smelt the sugar and the syrup they used. Frustration built within her. (You need to get out more. You can’t just live in the lab.) 

Turning her attention back to the paper in front of her, she forced her hand to still, grabbed her discarded pencil. Still nothing. She groaned in frustration. After a moment, she grabbed the schematic, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it towards the garbage, only a few feet away from her, and right into someone. 

“Shit. Sorry.” She said. A beat later, she asked, “Could you throw that away for me?”

❝ knew a lot, did you, huh, adrian ? ❞ roman raised his eyebrows, blue eyes filled with mischief. ❝ whoa. that is so uncalled for. aren’t we friends ? do you really think i could be like that ? ❞ adrian knew roman was a bundle of nerves. roman knew adrian was gay. 

it takes a moment for her mind to wrap around where he was at as opposed to where she was at. at first, she tilts her head in confusion, “here to…?” she asks before a moment later, understanding dawns across her face, “oh,” she shakes her head, “oh, god, no–” but she quiets as he talks, glancing down as he grips her hand. her face softens as she looks at him. as he speaks, as she hears what he says about them, her face melts into a smile. her hands grips his with just as much urgency, moving herself closer to him. she knows that in this moment, she wants to be close to him.

“yeah, I’ll have you,” she wished she could think of something smarter, anything more clever, but her focus was elsewhere, in the rush she felt to her core. she places one of her hand on his cheek, gently moving to kiss him for just a moment, the full feeling in her chest pouring out as she pulls away slightly, the breathy laugh she lets out holds an air of surprise– because truly, part of her is surprised.

in her mind, ava has never been one to settle. this is true on a few levels, whether it’s her goals or with romance. her whole adult life has been filled with different uncertainties, different instabilities. war was a never-ending supply of emotional whiplash, and it so rarely left the soldiers even after they left the war. ava assumed long ago she would never find true stability… and even still, perhaps they wouldn’t. 

doubt always plagued her, so she reasoned, perhaps stability is not what they are meant for, but there’s something so deeply reassuring about this moment. knowing there would at least be someone beside her, and that it wasn’t like anything before. there was someone that wanted her for more than a night or two, for longer than something easy. someone she hadn’t failed. right here, under her touch, there was someone…. good, as he put it. ava liked that. she didn’t ask for much. she could thrive with good.

“and, hey, i’m not mad,” she settles closer to him now, moving herself to rest on his side, tucking herself under his arm with her own moving across his chest. she kept eye contact, now speaking from a place all too real, “me, my family, we’ve been caught in the crosshairs of some crazy shit. you can’t control when other people are determined to fuck you up,” and how many times had avengers problems, SHIELD problems, drifted to ava? how many villains had successfully disrupted ava’s life? all of the children of the great heroes? “we just gotta get through it. and we did, we are...” though the more vivid nightmares she’d been dealing with since debated on how well. still, together, ava felt a deep sense of calm. it was not if they would get through it, it was when, and that was… good.

“together,” she says with a quiet confidence curled up against him. now, she was sure.

good. it was the dew that was still settled, undisturbed while he was on his early morning walk. it was levi scoring the first goal of his game, and the surge of pride that swelled in his chest as he watched from the sidelines. it was his the sound of his sister laughing, something that she didn’t do nearly enough, these days - that sometimes, he thought she never would again. it was the sound of nails on hardwood floors when his three musketeers came running to greet him after work. it was a scalding cup of tea, the familiar sound of auld lang syne on a chilly new years eve, selling one of his articles to some online publication, the humming of a tattoo needle ; and it was AVA. them. the two of them, together. 

it was the way her hand fit in his, not perfectly like all the movies had ever made it out to be, but still with a warmth that reassured him, no matter what. it was her level breathing in the middle of the night when he couldn’t sleep and when she, so rarely, could - the way she would turn and nestle closer to him when she woke in the morning, early morning sunshine settling in her hair. it was her giggles, soft as skin, and that look she got in her eyes sometimes - stubborn and fierce and full of flame that could never be quenched. it was her, her, HER.

of course he was too stunned to kiss her back, the first time. it all felt too good to be true. he would BLINK, and it would all be over ; a dream, passed. he’d go to sleep and wake up with an empty bed and an emptiness in his heart where something else belonged, now. and it’d hurt - god, the pain would be like no other, to have something and to lose it all over again, but gods be damned, he would make every moment count. he was stunned only for a second. then he leaned in, again, catching her lips with his and making this one worth it, his free hand cupping her face.

he broke away but kept the distance between them minimal, thumb grazing gently across her cheek.

@fiidelis said: ‘ i don’t know how to describe it … like , a different zone of time . no , that sounds stupid . a different clock land . ’  // accepting

Rosario rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you nearly forty? Shouldn’t you have at least some life knowledge by now?” She said with a scoff. “They are just called timezones.”

‘ not all heroes wear capes. a lot of them wear collars and are called dogs. ’ @fiidelis

Althea looked at him with an eyebrow before laughing a bit. “Yeah, you’re not wrong. Paddy still rolling over on his back every time you walk by him?”

“he wouldn’t be mans best friend, if he didn’t.” well ; this mans best friend, that was for sure. sure - it was only natural, he supposed, for the pet that he put all of his time into to associate him with treats, and seek them out with cute displays of well taught tricks. but adrian liked to think that it was all genuine love. “you ever think ‘bout getting another one? a dog, i mean - after paddy.”

“Thank you, it means a lot. Truly.” Diana beamed. She loved her kids so much, getting random surprises like this let her know that she was a good mom, despite how she thought otherwise sometimes. She motioned for him to come in, placing the flowers on a counter. “The mist was…rough, for plenty of people. Are you alright?”

diana had gotten it rough. even adrian knew that, in his own way. she was a good mum. the very best, in his most humble ( and heavily biased ) opinion - but he and theora... objectively, they weren’t the best of kids to have had. he had made the most mistakes, he thought, though that might’ve just been because he COULDN’T rest any blame on his sisters shoulders. but their mum had still had it rough, dealing with them. the fact she still went out as wonder woman, putting herself into positions of having to save the world every day... she was a trouper. “i’ve been better. but i’m fine, now. i just-... are you? i couldn’t find you.” 

“oh- i’m sorry about that. just let me move some of this,” he responded, nervous and speaking way too fast he hurried to move his belongings closer to himself. when blake had arrived at the coffee shop, he’d been alone, and he’d taken over a rather large table in order to spread out his work. but as the need for space increased, he relinquished some of his table. “there you go! it’s all yours!” 

❝ i mean, she’s just like nancy grace. wild ass accusations. ❞ roman found all of this way too funny. he gestures to the person standing beside him, all loud talk about the woman that had just approached him then left. ❝ do i really look like i deal drugs ? ❞ he looked down at himself for further measure. a lime colored sweater under a button-up, tucked into shorts. 

she sees the remnants of her own distant state mirrored in him as she takes some blanket, and she can’t help the breath of a chuckle she lets out– though it’s sad, in a way. she doesn’t resist the urge to reach out, her arm resting on the back of the couch as her hand brushes the scruff on his cheek ( which is itself a sign of change from formerly uniform bare skin. ) “we’re messes, aren’t we?” she muses with a wry, yet gentle shake of her head. she sits a moment before continuing, staring at a point where the couch and their shared blanket met. words form in her head, but it takes her a moment to get there. admittedly, it’s easier to joke, to self deprecate, than dive in… but finally, she manages.

“you know, when i realized that you forgot everything from recently. us. that… that hurt,” it was hard to admit for the woman whose strength was the core of her being, but she looks back up to him to clarify, “i’m not mad,” how could she be? it was an attack, they both suffered, that much was clear, “but… damn,” another nervous breath of a laugh, “it hurt more than anything casual should hurt,” phrased as a joke, but it was the conclusion she’d come to.

it was hard to keep eye contact now, not for any lack of trust in him, but in a full lack of trust of herself. she wasn’t good at this baring your soul stuff… but there were things that were worth it, she knew. adrian was worth it, because the comfort she felt with him was something she didn’t get other places, which is exactly why she kept contact with her arm over the couch. 

if he wanted to, he could break the contact, she could picture him politely taking her hand and putting it in her lap, a gentlemanly decline. after other experiences, part of her was resolved to move on and put the past behind her… but a bigger part of her made her finish, and lay all her cards out on the table, “so… tell me if i should take a step back. but I think i left casual behind a bit ago. i just… want to be around you. with you,” she looked at him now, reminding herself to close her mouth as she measured his response.

he had never really been the most intelligent of thoughtful of guys - but at one point in time, he'd have at least had something to say. he'd have had an INKLING as to what words to use, what one's to string together and what phrases to utter. he'd have something suave to say in answer instead of just a sad little smile and soft shake of his head ; piss poor offering coming in the form of, "you're the prettiest one i've ever seen."

she was. everything about ava was pretty, and not just because looks. everything she did and was appealed to adrian, in every way that they could. she was a gorgeous, pulled apart mess, and maybe that had attracted him to her, in a way ; and maybe it wasn't what needed to be HEARD, though for the time being, it was all he could give. whoever he had been before was gone, and she knew that better than most - but at time's like these, he really felt the weight of that. ava had words. she could put what she was feeling into them, or at least try. he had silence. and it didn't help, in moments such as this.

"i didn't-..." he cut himself off before he could even really start with a frustrated sigh, shifting his weight once more so that he could REALLY look at her. he didn't like the way she laughed. didn't need to be able to read into things any better than he was capable, now, to know what she was referencing ( the memory was foggy, but it stuck out in mind regardless ), and know that it had hurt. it hurt him, now, to think. "i didn't know what i was saying, when i said that." he figured she knew. he also figured he still had to say it, out loud. "i was back... then. with amiri. i didn't remember, ava, and- if i'd had an inkling..." a shake of his head was the only end to such a line of conversation he could give. words - his especially - just couldn't do it JUSTICE. nothing could really describe what it had been like, to be back where he'd been, to think that he was with a woman that was ash, now, and nothing more. he hadn't tried to hurt ava, yet still, he had. he never would have wanted to, yet it happened. nothing could fix that.

he just figured he knew where it was going. he could grovel and make his apologies, he could try explain the thought process, he could do... anything, really, but he didn't think he could fix this.

he didn't realize that they weren't, really, in the same mindset. not until she started again, and as she did, he became... all the more aware of the places in which their bodies touched. like an electric current ran between them. and he didn't, really, believe what he was hearing - scarecely wanted to hope for the best, lest he be disappointed - but he was all too happy to run with it. at least for now.

“I doubt that.” It wasn’t meant to be mean, not necessarily, but annoyance crept into her words nonetheless. Helena didn’t expect minimum wage employees to remember her order, especially the older ones. “Kid?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid, and even if I was, my language isn’t really your problem.” 

it’s not her being bashful by any means. ava Barton is NOT shy… but there’s a flutter in her chest when she sees his eyes trail over her, “sure, prettiest, greasiest grunt. that was me,” she watches his gaze, the catch in his voice, and she revels in it for a few moments, more than happy to have his eyes, because to ava, there isn’t a broken man in front of her. sure, he changed since the accident…. but then, she’d changed since she was held prisoner. it was just another fact of war, right alongside violence and risk. injury. recovery. a fact of their life was that war left behind people that were fractions of who they went in as. as her and Adrian had come together lately, she liked to think that these two broken pieces complimented each other. she feels it in the way he guides her face, the way she leans in to the kiss, one finger hooked around the chain with a little smirk on her face as they separate. his scent overtakes her, and she stays there, not bothering to shift, though she does answer him just loud enough for him to hear, “guess I do want to go in there and show off my arm candy,” she purrs into his ear, “let’s go knock ‘em dead, huh?”

Lugnut laid across Ava’s lap as she sat cross legged on the bed, idly petting him. The service dog stared at her the whole time, insisting upon licking her hand at one point, until she noticed it was covered in slobber. even then, her moves we’re slow as her head was swimming in thought. It seemed like it hadn’t stopped since the mist. Once the sounds of war had blissfully left her head, thoughts poured in like the floodgates opened.

at times, she worried she’d be stuck like this, slow and lagging and distant, forever. was she too far gone to do the only thing she knew: fight? but then, logic told her war was different than a mission. a grunt was different than an agent…. it had to be.

mostly, she thought about her reactions during the mist, and more specifically, to Adrian. the thought that he’d forgotten her, that everything they had been developing was nothing…. it hurt. it hurt much more than she ever expected, and that was what she thought about now. she knew she had to say something. she knew she had to voice it, because if she didn’t, she’d run. she’d play the same game she’s played or been played on, getting close enough to a taste of stability to have it run the other way. so, with a move so sudden it makes her dog surprised ( though he loses step with her for only a moment, at her side again in a another ) Ava remembers the guest in the living room she was leaving waiting. [ @fiidelis ]

“hey, sorry, got distracted,” her voice is a bit more gentle than when she went in, as it was just after she zones out. a bit more thoughtful than her normal brash tone. she tosses him the extra blanket and as she sits again ( Lugnut sitting right against her leg. he felt her nerves ) she puts a hand on Adrian’s shoulder with a gentle squeeze, “can we talk?” the question is even more gentle, feeling the nerves, but this had to be done.

if he had been all together with it, he would have felt uncomfortable sitting alone in ava's apartment - time ticking by as he waited for her to return from the next room. he'd have cleared his throat and asked if she needed a hand, or made some comment about how she must have gotten lost. something, anything, to fill the silence that had settled in her absence.

as was, adrian looked straight ahead - eyes glazing over as he waited, thoughts a million miles away. the mist had taken something out of him that he hadn't been aware was there to take, and though he had wanted to be around ava, had wanted to fall into what had become... something of a normal routine, again - he had to admit, it probably would have been in both of their best interests if this meetup had been delayed. both of them needed time to recover. ava from the presumed trauma of having to listen to a war that didn't exist just outside the door - adrian, from forgetting... everything. everything that had made him, HIM.

almost ten years before, who he was turned into who he used to be in an explosion that echoed on sleepless nights. in it, he had lost...- almost everyone, and himself to boot. he had become a shadow of what he was, and healing had been an upwards battle, ever since. and for one night - he had been whole again. his mind had been clear. his steps had been faultless. and whatever grief had lay on his shoulders ever since he'd lost his team... it had LEFT.

for ava, the whole thing had been a nightmare, start to end. but for adrian... the start had been a homecoming. a reminder, of who had had BEEN. and it was the aftermath that hurt the most. waking up and remembering that - what she had bee saying to him, was true. his friends were dead. the girl he'd...- she was GONE, turned to ash a million miles away what could have been a lifetime ago. and the price of reliving what once was normalcy had been forgetting the people who had come to mean everything. forgetting his son. forgetting ava.

so yeah - he zoned out. his gaze was trained on the opposite wall and he scarcely even blinked, his mind still spinning. and when she came back ; he had hardly even noticed that she had been gone for so long.

"me too." he didn't need to say anymore, he imagined. ava got it. she got HIM, better than most. that was what had drawn them to one another, before - and that was what stung even more, now. he caught the thrown blanket with a soft smile beginning to form on his lips, and with a slight adjustment of his position, was able to stick a hand out for lugnut ; allowing him to nose at it, gently, before he absently scratched behind his ears. he knew dogs. paddy did the same thing, when his emotions were wrought - settling in beside him, refusing to move. he knew something was coming, enough so that his expression didn't freeze at her words - though his heart started to sink.

gráinne:

replies: persephone hardy parker

starters: none

clint:

replies: ava barton, kate bishop, steve rogers

starters: none

adrian:

replies: althea kent, ava barton x3, helena barnes, theora trevor x3, cooper kent, jamie trevor, roman darkholme

starters: garfield logan

emma:

replies: niko strange

starters: none

jean: replies: johnny storm starters: seraphine curry

kena: replies: loki, cooper kent x2 starters:

nikki:

replies: 

starters: kurt rogers

nora:

replies:

starters:

sienna:

replies: andromeda isley quinzel, isaac howlett, beatrice zsasz

starters:

ziva:

replies:

starters: teddy brock

victoria: replies: etienne beaubier jinadu, rowan, theo hansen, skylar mccoy starters:

trixie:

replies: jude murdock

starters: gunnar vidarson

tova:

replies: johnny storm, raynor lokison, nikita rasputin, halvor bragison, thor

starters: naomi dane summers

romy:

replies: cassie lang

“You know me so well.” It was meant to be snarky but there was more than a little truth to the statement. No one knew either of the Trevor twins better than the other, be it a twin thing or a sign of their codependency. ( She thought it was both, that the twin thing could not be untangled from the codependency, not after thirty six years of ignoring there was a problem with the latter at all. ) “Beer’s disgusting.” She scrunched her nose up. “What I’m hearing is that my scrubs aren’t really as attractive as Grey’s Anatomy would have me think.” With a shake of her head, she continued, “I’m going to pass but don’t let me stop you from trying it yourself.”

even after taking a leave of absence from the navy, cyrus didn’t stop his rigorous training routine. after all, muscles needed to be constantly stimulated or they lose their strength. he was doing some overhead presses in the training room before setting down the large bar with many plates stacked on the ends. he took in a deep breath and picked up his water bottle that was on the floor next to him. after taking in a large gulp, cyrus realized someone was hovering and usually in the gym that meant someone was waiting to use to equipment. “ you need this? i’m just about to be finished if you just wanna wait five minutes? “ 

simple exercises came part and parcel with the sort of injury that adrian had suffered, years before, all as way of elevating the chronic pain attached. and man - that had been bad, in the aftermath of the dance and all that came with it. he had been a little worse for wear after it was all said and done, to put it mildly, and while he’d have loved to take it easy, he was aware that it could only get worse by going that route. he was there to get in his work out - and he hadn’t realized that cyrus would be there, too, figuring that his little brother would be busy elsewhere. hence the hovering. interrupting anyone in the gym that didn’t make it known they were up for that wasn’t usually smiled upon, but he wasn’t sure where the line was drawn when it came to siblings. “nah, you’re good-” he waved a hand, a little sheepish about the fact he hadn’t got a greeting in first, “it’s probably a bit much for today. and i was mostly tryna work out when to say hello, anyway.”