◜ * 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭

So Verity Willis was afraid of heights. In her defense, they were rather, well, you know, high, and they were a rather long way to fall. Sure, maybe it would’ve been irrational if she could fly, or do those cool, yet seemingly physics-ly impossible stunts that those heroes in that new city could do. She, unfortunately, could not. She could barely walk up and down the stairs without getting winded because she was a normal ass human being with normal exercise habits. Which is to say she didn’t really have any besides the miles she walked every day since this was New York and she didn’t have a car.

She glanced down again, and closed her eyes. “I hate this I hate this I hate this.” She muttered under her breath. Cursing everything, and everyone she could think of. “If you let me fall I’m going to kill you.”

The boy sat in the alleyway — not sure when the last time he SLEPT through the night OR how long he has been living in the streets. His WINTER SOLDIER uniform was holding up, although quite dirty. He doesn’t own any other set of clothes to CHANGE into. RJ has been keeping up on maintaining his hygiene at least, taking advantage of public bathrooms. Right now the boy was in his FAVORITE alleyway. No one bothered him here, at least not until today.  His small body is sat on top of a large black duffel bag full of his various weapons and some extra magazines.

CURIOUS eyes look up through a head of messy curls at the person nearby. “What? I can’t be in your way — I don’t take up much room.”

THE  WHOLE  SITUATION  FELT  DIFFERENT,   the  whole  encounter  didn’t  set  off  his   senses,   but  there  was  something  about  the  other  that  sparked  peter’s  curiosity.   perhaps  it  was  the   mysterious  demeanor   or  the  fact  that  the  guy  looked  as  if  he  hadn’t  worn   clean  clothes   in  days.   still,  it  felt  weird.   shuffling  his  feet  against  the  pavement,  peter  begins  to fish  through  his  bag.   “  yeah  i  know,  um,  i  don’t  wanna  get  into  your   business   or  anything  but...   are  you  alright,  man ?   ”

things got quite strange after he returned.

well, he and half the world’s population.

he was back at the avengers compound, or what was left from it, trying to make everything make sense. to him, it had only been a handful of days after the war happened. but to some, it had been five years with half of the world gone. now they are back, as well as several new faces who pinged the radar. faces who did not exist before.

all the talks about multiverse theory left his head aching. it was no doubt something he barely understands, so sam wisely handed it to the experts. that was why he was seated comfortably in his office, staring blankly at the reports spread out on his desk. the number of people joining the support group had increased after the snap, majority made up of civilians. 

there was a knock on the door, caused him to jerk from his reverie and leveling a narrow gaze at the door. “ who is that? “ he inquired carefully, not quite sure who to expect. 

THE  MINUTE  PETER  HAD  KNOWN  THAT   there  was  someone  in  the  tower,  his   curiosity  piqued.    it  had  been  a  while  since  things  felt  normal  in  any  way,  and  he  was  trying  to  acquire  any  kind  of   familiarity   when  it  came  to  his  heroic  persona.   as  far  as  he  knew,  the  avengers  were  done.   with  the  death  of  tony  stark,  something  he  still  has   difficulty  processing   to  this  day,  it  seemed  as  if  he  was  alone.   chaos  could  strike  at  any  given  moment  too,  and  without  any  sort  of  force  that  strives  to  protect  the  world,  it  could  be  the  end.

@thwipses

”Sniahc dnib uoy dna dloh litnu eht spoc emoc.” The spell flowed easily from her lips, the universe bending to accommodate her wishes as chains formed up around the very startled would be mugger. His gun, now a bouquet of flowers, already lay on the ground, and the almost victim had taken off at the first spell. Zee wished she could have comforted them, but people here hadn’t ever heard ot the League or her, so she supposed it was fair enough. A thwip somewhere above told her someone else had arrived on the scene, and the bright colors at first glance told her it was another person with crimefighting in mind. “It’s alright I’ve got this… wait are you supposed to be a spider?”

Zatanna forced herself to pause, recovered from her surprise, offered him a warm smile, and glanced down at her own costume, fishnets and all. “I mean, I suppose I don’t have much room to talk about weird outfits for this kind of thing. Do spiders even come in those colors?”

WHILE  IT  WASN’T  EXACTLY  THE  TIME  TO  start  a  full  blown  conversation  about   weird  superhero  costumes,   it  did  seem  like  the  stranger  had  it  all  covered.   immediately  peter  hops  off  the   high  ledge   he’d  landed  in,  now  standing  in  front  of  the  other.   “   well,  kinda  yeah,   ”    there’s  heat  that  begins  to   radiate  warmth   over  his  cheeks,  mostly  from   embarrassment.    while  their  outfits  looked  strange,  at  least   hers   made  sense.   “   the  suit  was  a  gift,  alright ?   i  don’t  really  wanna  get  into  it   magic  lady,   but  i  can  say  it’s  a  lot  cooler  than  the  one  i  originally  made  out  of  sweatpants  and   swim  goggles.    ”

— - ➸  ❮ ᴘᴇᴛᴇʀ ᴘᴀʀᴋᴇʀ || sᴘɪᴅᴇʀ-ᴍᴀɴ ❯ @thwipses

The shield shines, CALLING OUT from its resting place against the wall. Seductive, a l l u r i n g and Clint Barton has always been weak to temptation. “Just once. Sam won’t know, Steve won’t know. There’s no harm here … Really.” The weight is startlingly comfortable, metal cool and smooth against his fingers. He aims, taking a stance that he’s seen Rogers do a million and one times … But it’s the KID ( !! ) in the doorway that causes his heel to switch rotation. “Aw, crap. HEAD’S UP!” The grip slips, sending the shield flying at the wrong target and the archer tipping forward.  

      so the funny thing about being tony stark, is that you’re known. you’re well known. and apparently, you’re dead - at least in other universes. and it definitely wasn’t on tony’s ‘i woke up today and therefor i’m going on an adventure’ to-do list. inhaling sharply, he glanced over at the rather large and albeit loving mural dedicated to his once older, arguably more successful self and sighed. tilting his head, he glanced at the nearest person to him and pointed over at the large painting of his - well the other his - face. “do you think they got my nose right? what about my eyes? i can’t really tell -” he started, frowning a bit.

      shrugging when the person seemed to freak out and hustle away, tony went back to staring at the art piece. “no no, that’s okay - i’m alive and kicking but i guess that doesn’t matter-ow!” he hissed, reaching for his chest and massaging the area where his newly placed arc reactor sat, frowning at himself with how much pain he was in. he wondered what tony went through - what was his trials and tribulations - and he wondered if anyone here, on the other side with the so-called ‘avengers’ knew. turning to walk on, he stopped short when someone moved in front of him, “five bucks and you get a photo, ten bucks and you get to be in the photo with me, twenty and it’s a signed copied.” he flashed a grin that didn’t quite meet his eyes as he looked on at them.

IT  WAS  CRAZY,  REMARKABLE  EVEN.   while  tony  stark  was  notorious  for  his   sarcasm  and  wit,   his  behavior  made  it  believable.    dumbfounded,   peter  only  continues  to  sit  in  silence,  soaking  in   everything   this  man  was  saying.   his  feet  are  firmly  planted  to  the  ground,  as  if  he’s  not  allowing  for  the  other  to  leave  until  he’s  distinguished  his   dreams  versus  reality.    yeah,  this  was  tony.   but  it  wasn’t  the  tony  that  he  himself  has  grown  to   know   and   love.    it  was  almost  like  staring  at  a   stranger   who  shared  the  exact  same  genetic  makeup.

the  sound  of  high  heels  are  heard,     jennifer  walters  practically  stumps  out  of  the  courthouse  with  a  now  almost  empty  coffee  cup  on  one  hand  while  the  other  held  a  mountain  of  paperwork  and  folders.   there’s  nothing  but  joy  in  her  teal  eyes   —   today’s  hearing  went  well,    to  say  the  least.    now  what  better  than  kicking  out  her  pumps  and  playing  a  good  movie?    𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 ,   the  figure  just  a  few  feet  away  from  her  catches  her  attention.    ever  since  she  was  snapped  back  to  life,   she’s  found  a  new  appreciation  for  people  in  general.    “ you  know,     normally  i’d  say  get  out  of  my  way,    but  i  managed  to  nail  this  dirty,   lazy  defense  attorney  to  the  wall   —   i  just  wish  i  could  say  literally, ”     she  jokes  out,    taking  her  last  sip  of  her  cold  soy  latte  before  looking  at  the  other  person,    clear  excitement  in  her  features.     “ so  in  light  of  me  kicking  butt  today,    how  does  a  well  deserved  drink  sound?   my  treat! ”

          𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐒 exceptionally good at reading people —— especially so if that person happened to be peter parker. big fat crush on him aside, peter was an awful liar —— from the way his eyes flickered around the room to the way his feet anxiously tapped on the floor. he really would make a terrible policeman, but the thought of him as one was enough to bring a momentary smile to her face. “ the stark internship… right. ” she replied, not even bothering to hide the slight suspicious tone that coated her voice. go ahead and call her paranoid because gods know it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been called it, but ever since the stark internship was suddenly bestowed upon peter like some holy mission, he’d been off. actually, no, scratch that —— even b e f o r e he had gotten the internship he had been acting weird for quiet some time. and, to add to her suspicion, every time peter claimed he had to run off to do something for the so called stark internship, a certain red spandex wearing superhero would be spotted literally swinging through the city not half an hour later. “ well, aside from from a few suspicious looking workers, i’ve got nothing to report. so i’m glad stark enterprises will be very pleased to know that this was, indeed, just another gala held but some rich dude. ”

reaching up to fidget with the chain she wore around her neck, the tall teen would smile weakly at his reassurance. “ i feel like one but… thanks. ” the way her heart flutters at his warm smile was completely undeniable and she feels like her entire nervous system stutters as she tries ( and fails ) to catch his gaze for more than five seconds. “ me too. ” michelle smiles gently. “ i mean, i like being with you as well. it’s definitely make this hellish experience a lot better. ” with a light rose colour now dusting over her dark skin, it would be michelle’s turn to advert her gaze from the him. it was odd, really. how she constantly wanted to hold his gaze but the moment he looks back at her, her heart flew up into her throat and she had to break the gaze. it’s almost as though he was too bright for her to even dare to look at, and he was. he absolutely was. it was his cough that drew her attention back to him and out of her own thoughts, blinking as she listened to him —— she couldn’t help but laugh ever so slightly at his choice of words, a fond smile once again appearing on her lips. “ i’d… much rather spend time with you than with anyone else here so… yeah, i’d really like that. ” she spoke honestly, long fingers moving to rub her left wrist absentmindedly before she gestures with her head towards where she assumed the balcony was. “ lead the way. ”

HE  FEELS  AS  IF  HE’S  IN  A  CRAZY  DREAM.   the  kind  where  he’s   mindlessly  floating   somewhere  in  the  clouds,  with  a  goofy  grin  across  his  lips  fit  for  a   lovesick  idiot.    it  was  all  in  a  good  way  though,  since,  the  girl  of  his  dreams  was  right  there  in  front  of  him.   to  be  honest,  he  didn’t  expect  for  it  to  all  go  so  well.   with  the  way  michelle  portrays  herself  to  be;  closed  off,   mysterious.    he  didn’t  think  someone  like  peter  parker  would  cross  her  mind  even  for  a  second.   if  anything,  she  was  out  of  his  league.   but  maybe  he  was  wrong.   they  were  going  to  hang  out,   alone,   just  the  two  of  them.   peter  had  daydreamed  of  this  moment  for  ages,  and  now  that  it  was  about  to  actually  happen,  it  sets  him  to   panic  mode.    these  daydreams  he  would  have  were  different,  because  he  had   full  control   of  what  was  happening  inside  his  head.   if  something  were  to  go  awry  now,  it  would  be  the  end  of  it.   “   you  do ?   that’s...  really  sweet,  ”   a  nervous  laughter  emits,  fingers  awkwardly  tugging  on  the  sleeves  of  his  dress  shirt.  when  she  asks  to  lead,  he  answers  with  a  small  nod  and  begins  their  walk  to  the  balcony.   no  set  plan  in  mind,   nerves  riding  high.    “   and  for  the  record,   ”   he  speaks  up  to  lay  his  eyes  on  her  again  as they  walk,  feeling  as  if  his  heart’s  ready  to  pounce  off  his  chest.   “   i  think  you’re  the  smartest  person  out  there.   ”

“I can’t say the name sounds familiar, but sounds about right. I can’t go anywhere without seeing my father’s name somewhere. He even has his own search engine — can’t escape it.” Jason knows that look, the way this kid was acting because this is how people act when the subject of his death comes up. He was curious, but maybe that’s too personal to talk to a stranger about. So, for now Jason doesn’t pry on that. “Everyone has their opinions on Gotham.  We’re pretty much known for having BATMAN, a murderous clown terrorizing us, a gothic atmosphere, and some urban legends.” He has a grin spread over his face, but he still despised the fact Joker was allowed to run free. He plays it cool though, not wanting to make uncomfortable. “We’re an interesting bunch — us Gothamites.” He feels weird talking about himself so much, but he can see how interested Peter is in the story. “Why not start off with why you’re HERE?”

Finally, a moment of peace.

Thor took a long drink from his ale as he relaxed at the bar.  There were so many people, typical of a Friday night at his favorite New York bar.  They kept plenty of beer, so he kept ordering plenty of drinks. He had originally drawn crowds, but the bartenders would let him into a small room in the back if it because oppressive rather than merry. He hadn’t been back since The Snap, but no one brought it up.

Thor’s ideal peace was almost never solitary, so when someone came up next to him, he couldn’t help but interject.

“My friend, you must try their new brew. They’ve done miraculous things with marsh melons.” The bartender chuckled and corrected him with no malice or mockery, so Thor took no offense. “Yes, yes, marshmallows,” Thor laughed. “The sugar treats, they’re in Lucky Charms. Still, it’s a fine brew.”

natalia was on the front porch of a coffee bar, eyes focused on a shady character across the way. “you’re making this too easy.” she complained, watching him make a sudden turn down the alleyway. she placed her coffee mug on the table and pushed her chair back, ready to chase the man in question. but as she stepped away from the table, someone else stepped onto her path. “pardon me,” natalia mumbled, hoping they would move aside.

“what did alice once say? curiouser and curiouser? sounds about right.” felicia was looking around someone’s desk, searching through various files and other stuff to find something interesting. “hope they don’t notice me being here, you don’t mind, right?”

      carefully, wanda picked at the sleeve of her shirt - the annoyance of the fabric itching at her thoughts as she kept her gaze fixated ahead of her through the window. it’d been what had seemed like forever since she’d returned, since she’d been a guest of this essex man - since she’d lost even more of a part of herself, since… since… since.

      sighing, wanda turned her attention away from the window - realizing that another presence was in the room with her and offered up a distant but friendly smile. “i did not know you were here, i am sorry -” she started, glancing up and over before bringing her gaze back towards the floor. “did you need me?”

          it  took  peter  ten  whole  minutes  of  going  back  and  forth  with  himself,  deciding  whether  or  not  to  approach  the  familiar  face.   he  hasn’t  been  in  contact  with  any  of  the  avengers  since...   that  day  and  even  until  now,  he  isn’t  sure  of  this  was  the  time.   he  didn’t  want  to  be  selfish,  looking  for  that  sense  of  comfort  and  familiarity  when  others  may  not  be  ready  to.