#(drabble.)

Crocodile took a drag from the cigar and let it linger in his mouth, tasting that mix of citrus and cloves that only came from a good brand. He only pulled these out for special occasions. Triumphs. Celebrations. Honors. The times when he could bask in the essence of a job well done. Yet, for right now, it was just a comfort. He took the cigar out and held it between his fingers, looking at the end glow in the still purple-black light of dawn, and let the smoke blow out from his mouth. A moment of contemplation. A moment of remembrance. He absently brought his hand up to his stomach, lightly tracing the spot over the layers of clothing and padding he had now acquired, almost two decades later.

A night where everything had changed for him. A night where he had decided that he couldn't stay where he was. A night where he had figured that he could never go back to the man he had once been. Had it been that long?

He took another inhale of his cigar and dashed the ash down along the roots of the tree. He wouldn't crush it. That would ruin the taste. No, maybe he would just sit here, for a few moments more. Just a time to himself, and a time for the man he had been so long ago.

Thinking of… ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

in lieu of an update, here's a concept piece about how you would've met maluset for the first time in game. it's scrapped now for something better (hopefully) but it's still an okay piece of writing if i do say so myself. think it was some sort of a fever writing so let's not look too close okay.

A DRABBLE. when galan & taaia reunite.

taaia in this universe first encounters galactus, her child, above earth as the lifebringer during the final conflict against the black winter. she sees the force that ended their universe destroyed, poetic justice the silver surfer would say, only to then see galactus fall. golden life energy fading into the cold expanse of space. he falls to earth. but there is no devastating impact, as the fantastic four are ready, sue using her abilities to cushion the fall. laid to rest within a lake beneath the warmth of the sun. the last time taaia set eyes on galan was when he was a young child a handful of years ago. for galan it has been billions of years. time never dulled their love of their mother, however. emotions only buried in the deepest recces of the once mortal heart.

Alright it’s the 70’s — Greer barrels into the Avengers team while Yellowjacket is being a massive cock. We know the history. We know what happened. Greer hates the fucker.

Fast forward to WCA — it’s the 80’s, Hank’s taken a ( forced ) break from the Avengers. Greer’s finding her feet, trying to figure out her place on this new team. Hank joins, adamant that he’s gonna just be Jarvis 2.0. She can tell something is different: this isn’t the insecure macho man she came to associate with Hank Pym. This man is a storm of emotions but he’s kind & sweet & generous & actually kind hot, wtf? She pounces, coz what she wants, she gets. Tosses Simon to the back-burner for now, coz damn, this nerd is intriguing af.

She likes him, a lot, but she’s a mess & for the first time in a long time, she gets introspective. She knows he’s really struggling, like really fucking struggling but she just went through hell & back ( literally ) & now she’s got a fucking tail. She can’t help Hank coz now she’s gotta learn a new way to sit down. Thank God Bonita was there.

She likes him: he’s lamely funny & his smile is warm like sunlight but now they’re going to Hungary coz his dead wife might not actually be dead ( & wow wouldn’t that be nice, maybe, if Bill wasn’t actually dead & this was all some crazy fever dream & she woke up with black hair & pale skin & she went back to university instead of agreeing to become a fucking housewife ). Hank’s come a long way: he’s more confident & joyful & the she swears that she catches him staring at her from across the pool sometimes.

But Marc is there to distract her because damn he’s even more of a tornado than Hank was & she doesn’t know the reason ( spoiler: it’s Khonshu ) but she cannot for the life of her get a read on him & the curiosity got the cat, & they’re at it like animals. Literally.

& then the team blows up & all the boys are ganging up on Bobbi & fuck that because okay maybe she hasn’t killed anybody ( yet ) but neither did Bobbi. Bobbi just let that cunt Slade fall off a cliff just like Greer let that cunt Donalblain put a bullet in his head. Marc sides with them, obviously because he’s the worst of all of them. They go their seperate ways.

They come back eventually but everything is different. Marc doesn’t stay, Janet is there now. Which is cool, she likes Janet ( who doesn’t? ) but Hank doesn’t look at her anymore. Simon is looking at Wanda. She’s on her own, probably for the best.

Years go by — they’re teammates but they’re not friends, her & Hank. It’s not effortless between them like it is with Steve or Tony or Jim or Clint or Simon. She doesn’t know why. They used to talk & fuck & laugh together. She’s not sure why it stings.

Now everything is fucked. Friends are becoming enemies; they were hunting each other. They lost Marc & Steve & now she’s in fucking Arkansas of all places. At least Jim is there. She never thought anyone would see her as a mentor, but all the good ones were already taken, she supposed.

When Hank showed up she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. He’s different, though. He’s more confident ( quietly, always quietly ) & he’s more sure of himself & oh my god is he flirting with her!?

It’s so easy — it’s so damn easy falling back into bed with him. They laugh & he cooks her dinner & he eats her out until she’s a shaking mess & the next month is bliss, even between the military style training & the constant travelling & all the tangled string she’s caught herself in.

& then he’s on the TV & she’s two weeks overdue for her period & there’s fucking Skrulls everywhere.

She shuts it out & can’t stop thinking about it at the same time. It was all a lie. It wasn’t him: it was a fucking alien. She goes over everything; dissects every memory of him & her together & wonders when it all started. Why didn’t she see? Why didn’t she notice? Why didn’t anybody notice?

She has the baby & he’s fucking perfect thank the Cat Gods thank every fucking God out there because that means everything is all worth it. Vance asks her to be a part of a new Avengers Academy & she’s said yes without even really thinking about it because it’ll keep her busy & if she’s busy then she doesn’t have to deal with all the fucked up shit that she’s been through in the last six months.

Oh but — he’s there. Hank’s there. Headmaster Ant-Man. Fuck they even smell the same. He knows, right? He must. Everybody knows. Not about little William but about her & the Skrull. Of course he knows, look at the way he’s looking at her. Wait but that’s not sympathy — well some of it is but it’s… remorse. Regret. For what? He didn’t do anything…

She tries not to be alone with him. More for his sake than hers — if the animal in her gets set off she’s liable to murder. She wouldn’t even be able to stop herself if she tried. It wasn’t him. But they’re alone in the faculty lounge & he plonks a coffee mug in front of her with her usual cream & 2 sugars ( he remembered : so not all of it was false ) & he offered himself up to talk whenever she was ready to.

Yeah, right. She’s not a talker. She’s an ass kicker. But then those fucking kids find that fucking video & she’s got no choice. Hank holds her tight as she shakes with rage & shame & then they talk & talk & talk.

& she’s a little lighter for it. & she gets lighter every time they talk. She asks him to test her son’s DNA. He agrees ( even though he knows the outcome ). William is — genetically — his. She’s relieved because that means Norman Osborn has nothing on her & he won’t come after William because he has no Skrull DNA. But she’s also scared because Hank has problems, big scary mental problems that she’s ignored because they were never really her problems, were they?

& he didn’t want kids because of that reason & she’s telling she doesn’t want anything from him because — William’s not anybody’s son but hers. He’s relieved she can feel it but he’s sad, too. She doesn’t know why.

He comes in one night & wakes her from a nightmare: the Skrull coming to take her baby away. It’s taken his shape again, & she pounces, she pins him against the wall & she’s the most animal she’s ever been & she almost tears his jugular out with her teeth & he doesn’t even try to stop her. & something registers & she realises that this is Hank Pym — the one she met in Palos Verdes who had a storm inside him & almost succumbed. She knows it wasn’t all a lie.

It’s a bit easier after that. They talk & they help the kids & they save the world & each other & they’re all a weird family. He’s fantastic with the kids even though he doubts himself. He lets William climb all over him even though she told him not to. He fixes her her morning coffee & lingers in the door of her classroom & tells Humberto & Brandon off for making jokes about her bikini.

& she managed to convince him to throw a party & she invites all her Initiative crew & she dresses up & he tells her she’s gorgeous & means it. Everybody’s having fun & laughing & Melati smuggled in some booze but she doesn’t care because Hank’s asked her to dance & they’re close & his heart is jackhammering & she’s nervous & excited & she tells him she doesn’t blame him because he’s just as much a victim as she is & oh Christ something’s stirring & she needs him now & he needs her too & they slip away.

It’s not like it usually is: it’s timid & shy & almost virginal — the way they slowly strip each other, the way he asks permission, the way she checks her strength, the tenderness of it. They’re interrupted of course & she regrets not taking the alcohol from Melati now but damn, did she need it. She needed the control back, she needed the choice back.

There’s lot of teasing after that. She’s swinging her hips on purpose when she’s walking in front of him & she’s staring at him from across the teacher’s lounge & she’s making a meal of her coffee but everything is moving so fast & oh now their school is destroyed & they’re living in a hotel room in Chicago & her dad hasn’t even called her. Her dad doesn’t even know that he’s a grandfather.

She’s so angry: she had to lie to the kids & she told them whatever it takes without ever really thinking about the consequences because she’s let bad people die before & she’s never had to think twice about it because they deserved it. But Ken & Maddie are in turmoil & now she’s thinking ( knows ) she’s a terrible person for even giving them this awful idea in the first place. What kind of mother is she being? Hank is a balm: he takes her in his arms & pets her hair & tells her she did the best she could under the conditions & not to doubt herself ( & she can feel it eating away at him too, he’s shouldering the blame because that’s what he does, it’s what he thinks he deserves ). She has good instincts, he reminds her. Not always, she wants to say but she stays present: she stays in his arms & his words ring true. It feels right, being in his arms. Maybe it shouldn’t but it does.

A few of the kids leave, so does Vance. They can’t stop them as much as they want to. Where else can they go? Nostalgia hits one afternoon as they’re watching the kids play in the hotel pool — the old Wackos compound is all but deserted. They could fix it up, make it new again. Make it home again.

It’s hard work but Pietro’s a whizz & she’s super strong & together they make light work of it. The quinnjet ride is light, full of all the excitement that second chances bring. Hank tells her he admires the woman she’s become & that she’s a hero & a great mother & he loves her & oh my god… she loves him too. Probably always did…

The fresh start is just what everybody needs. New students & new friends, even visits from old ones. Clint comes in for a bit & makes jokes & burgers & lewd comments as she sits in Hank’s lap. It’s like the good ol’ days.

Hank moves into her old bungalow with her & William. He cooks dinner because god knows she’s terrible at it. They cuddle up on the couch as she reads to her son — their son. Hank teaches Will how to properly stack his building blocks so he’s got a solid foundation. He watches from the shade of a tree as mother & son climb as high as they can. Who would have ever thought either of them could build something so wonderful?

when you were born, your mother tells you that lives shifted. they didn't change entirely, because something was already there, blooming the longer you baked in her belly, but it came to the surface. it swelled and filled the man you call dada to the brink, until there was too much kindness and love in him that he had to leave. she has told you this story since before you could understand what it meant, and when you were old enough, she explained it as more than just a story. she explained that when you were conceived, he was very sick, but he was also very brave. that before you came, he passed away, but he fought so hard to stay long enough to see you. you've seen photographs of him around the houses. you think he looks like a dork, now when you're older, but back then? oh, back then all you could see was an angel.

that something filled papa, too, though. your mother shows you photographs of papa and her together, cuddled up and oh so sweet. you don't believe anything but that they are perfect for your whole life. you see them dancing in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning when they don't think you're awake, no music to be heard and no conversation between them. just silence. just love.

you want something like that, some day.