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New Travelling Companions, a continuation of a fanfic of Narnia and Valdemar

Jul30

first: A Door in the Wall
Second: On the Other Side of the Door
Third: The Call Comes Again

The Pevensies found themselves alone again, in front of a strange forest in a strange land.

The four of them shared a long and thoughtful look.

“I have to say,” Peter admitted after a moment, “I feel underdressed.”

“We are, however, less under-armed than we were a few moments ago,” Susan pointed out. She was glad it had not been her who’d admitted to feeling improperly clothed, but she certainly was feeling much the same. A Queen wore raiment. A school-girl on a lark wore her brother’s hand-me-down pants and a blouse to grubby for wearing out.

“It doesn’t matter.” Lucy’s smile was back, her proper smile, bright and gleaming. “We’re Kings and Queens the same whether we’re in wellies and mackintoshes or in gowns and crowns.”

Edmund chuckled. “Always the same, Lu, cheerful and bright.” He patted her on the back companionably. “And you’re right. You’ve got your proper gifts, and I’ve got —” He looked down at the mace thoughtfully. “Well, I’ve got a proper gift, too.”

The sound of hoof-beats approaching stilled their chatter. Without discussion, without even a sign from Peter, the four of them fell into a combat formation. Susan found herself drawing an arrow as if they had never left Narnia, the movements smooth and comfortable.

The whitest, largest horse Susan had ever seen trotted into sight. Its rider was showing off, she realized; the mount was doing dance steps, curvetting and side-stepping as they approached.

And on the horse’s back — or, she realized, perhaps the Horse’s back — the rider was dressed all in white as well. The horse’s tack was all white with very pale blue barding, and bells jangled on the barding.

The rider was dark-skinned, darker even than the Calormen, but with a beak-like nose that seemed almost familiar to Susan. His long hair was braided up into a crown, wrapped around the rider’s head, almost like a turban.

His eyes were the sort of black that you could get lost in. Susan stifled a reaction. She steadied her aim and watched the rider’s movements.

He lifted both hands carefully, showing they were empty. “Greetings.” Even his accent sounded like the Calormen. “I believe you were expecting me. I am Soleck; this is Leffen.” He moved one hand to pat the horse’s neck as he introduced him — him; Susan realized; the great white horse was a stallion. The horse, in turn, exhibited a lovely bow. “And I am told that you are here to help us in our current, ah, quest. These things are true? You are the kings and queens from a far distant place? Susan and Peter, Lucy and Edmund?”

They all stayed frozen for a moment. Peter was the first to relax, the first to smile. He stepped forward, his hand off his sword hilt and a wide smile on his face.

Of course, Susan knew, he was still playing the protector, as always. If this was a ruse, Peter would be the first to be hit, and the others would have a chance to flee or retaliate. She lowered her bow, but did not put it up just yet. They were in a strange land, with no easy route home, and they did not know the rules yet.

While she assessed, Peter was holding out his hand to the stranger. “That’s us,” he agreed. “I am Peter. These are my brother and my sisters.”

Susan noted that he did not say King Peter. Their kingdom, after all, was so far far away.

The man leaned down from his saddle and shook the proffered hand. “A pleasure to meet you. I assure you all, I mean you no harm, and neither does Leffen. Here.” He slid out of his saddle and held his hands away from his belt, showing himself to be unarmed. “What the Sunlord has sent, I will not turn away.”

The Sunlord again. Susan itched for a text on comparative religion. In Narnia, where Aslan had walked among them, there had been very little religion, and it had been quite easy to sort out. In other nations — and back on Earth — it had been a different matter entirely.

Peter was bowing to the ambassador. “We have been sent, it seems,” he allowed, “and we’ve learned better than to question Aslan’s will in these matters. I suppose that makes us allies.”

“This Aslan, he is the one who sent you?”

“So we were told, and so, in this case, we believe. Tesnel — that is the Firecat — told us that a ‘companion’ would arrive to explain things. Is that you, then?”

“Ah. Well, Leffen is the Companion, and I am his Herald.”

At that, Leffen demonstrated such a gracious head-nod bow that Susan had to believe he was a Horse and not merely a horse. If there was anything about Narnia that Susan missed most of all — and it was hard to say, because she missed all of Narnia so much that it hurt even to think of it — it was Horses, and specifically her favorite Horse Carter, who had carried her right to the edge of the Lantern Waste after so many more glorious adventures.

She moved forward, putting up her bow and arrow now, but even as she was stepping towards the Horse — for he must be greeted too, of course, and he was the one that Tesnel had send to them — she could see that Soleck had tensed. He had introduced Leffen, but had he intended them to speak to the Horse?

Susan changed her direction mid-stride. She was hampered only slightly by her lack of skirts as she curtseyed deeply, for a Queen of course must be polite in any and every situation. She aimed her genuflection directly between Soleck and Leffen. “Herald Soleck, Companion Leffen, I am pleased to meet you. I am Susan.”

::I like her.:: Leffen took a step forward and very neatly nosed Susan’s hair. ::These are the ones, all right.::

“Lu, come on.” Susan gestured her sister over with a hand-wave far less queenly than her dignity might have like. “He smells just like Carter. Exactly! I mean.” She stepped back before she could throw her arms around the Horse’s neck. “I apologize, sir. You remind me of someone I once knew.” She paused, her eyes travelling over to Soleck, who was watching her with mouth open and eyebrows raised so far as to be sitting in his braids. “You both remind me of people I once knew.”

::Sir?:: Leffen stepped forward to nuzzle at Susan’s shoulder again. ::I like her very much.::

Fifth: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1094098.html

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/963929.html. You can comment here or there.

Nightmare in Gotham, a story based on a dream

Jul17

This is almost 100% based on one of my dream/nightmares last night. It’s not the entire dream, and I filled in some background and smoothed a couple things out. But the rest – it’s as dreamed

Zombie Apoc AU, Gotham/NYC DC/Marvel

The Joker’s crew was clearing buildings again.

Other neighborhoods, sure, the Bats protected, but there were only so many of them. A couple neighborhoods, the Family protected, and the Penguin was rumored to have his whole underground town laid out in the basements of fallen buildings.

But over here, nobody but the Joker ruled. Those who cared about such things did a lot of hiding — not that everyone wasn’t hiding, anyway. People said the zombie threat was past, but could you believe them? They’d said that before, and look where that had gotten the world.

Once a week or so — as the joker got bored — they would pick a building, at random or at will — and scour through it, taking anything that his Funnyship wanted. “Tax,” they called it. Sometimes a more clever minion would point out that the Joker’s crew protected them from zombies. Nobody believed that. The Joker’s crew protected them from the Joker, mostly.

They were halfway through a tenement, one that probably hadn’t changed much in terms of residents or quality of living since the world ended. Things were going pretty smooth — some shouting, sure, but when you stuck a comically large gun in someone’s face, usually they stopped arguing pretty fast — and then this thug in spandex came ripping out of a room they’d already cleared.

He was wearing red and blue, with some sort of spiderweb pattern all over his top, and his mask had big eyes like goggles. He plowed into the Joker and pushed them both out a broken window, till they were struggling and fighting on the brickwork like some sort of circus act.

“Isn’t Spider-man supposed to be all thin and wiry?” one mook asked. This guy was built like a stack of bricks, heavy and dense — and he was fast, moving like a whirlwind, and somehow still sticking on the side of the building while he did so. A couple minions tried to join the fray, only to find themselves thrown off like so much chaff.

“You think he’s a zombie? The mask and all.” New Mook had joined up for the safe place to sleep and the food. Older Mook stared at him for a moment, then shook his head.

“Nah. Zombies are all gone, remember?”

The Boss was holding his own. The Boss held his own against all comers, lately. If his older mooks had noticed that he was a little less verbal and a lot more carnivorous lately, well… nobody said a word. You worked for the Joker, you were used to not saying a word.

“Think we oughta help?”

Another hapless bystander joined the fray, only to fly off at breakneck speeds.

“Nah.” One of them would survive, and then they’d figure out where they stood.

The guy in red went rocketing out of the fray like his hair was on fire, bouncing off walls before appearing to explode in a puff of smoke. The boss climbed back up the wall and into the broken window, brushing dust and spiderwebs off his tattered suit.

“Done,” the Joker quipped, his smile a bit redder than it had been before. The mooks nodded, muttered their yessirs, and went back to clearing the buildings.

~

Peter lingered at the edge of town for a while, studying the river. He was going to have to leave. He’d felt the symbiote climbing higher and higher in his brain during the fight, until it made a grab just as the Joker tried to bite him. Another battle like that, and there wouldn’t be any Peter left.

The suburbs were empty, everyone said. He’d go there.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/960110.html. You can comment here or there.

The Call Comes Again, a continuation of a fanfic of Narnia and Valdemar

Jul7

first: A Door in the Wall
Second: On the Other Side of the Door

…Perhaps you could find the help that you needed as well

Susan looked at Edmund, who was frowning. She looked at Lucy, who wore a smile which was at the same time hopeful and very confused. She looked finally at Peter, who was looking what she thought of as Kingly.

Help that they needed? What could it be that they all needed together?

Peter took a step forward. He bowed politely to the cat and cleared his throat. “Please,” he said, sounding so much like a schoolboy that it hurt Susan to listen. Who was this shy boy? “Where are we? And who am I speaking to?”

::You are in the southernmost corner of a nation called Valdemar, in a world that is not that which you were born on, nor the same world as your Narnia. And I am Tesnel. I am a Firecat, a representative of Vkandis Sunlord.:: The Cat – Firecat, Susan supposed – took a moment to groom herself. ::I was chosen to speak to you because of your affinity towards other catlike avatars of the gods. And… we need your help.::

Well, that was certainly an introduction. Susan, as she had so often done with Animals in Narnia, sat down on the ground to be closer to eye level with the Firecat. “What is it you need our help with? And, I’m sorry, but… do you have any proof?”

::Your time in both lives has made you cynical, Daughter of Eve.:: The cat did not sound as if she disapproved.

“Susan–” Peter began, but the cat cut him off.

::And I have brought some gifts for you that I believe may help you trust.:: The cat blinked, and a pile of objects appeared in front of her.

This was a magic Susan had not seen before, fascinating and strange. To make things appear out of nowhere! But the objects themselves — that was even more fascinating.

“Is that… is that my bow?” She knelt down, remembering at the last moment to wait politely for the others.

Edmund hung back, but, then again, Edmund had not received a present from Father Christmas all those years ago. Poor Edmund, Susan thought suddenly, to be reminded forever of what had really been one foolish, childish mistakes. As if none of the rest of them had ever done anything silly!

::Step forward, King Edmund. you have not been forgotten. Father Christmas, I am told, made a special trip for you.:: The Firecat nudged a package forward, wrapped in red paper with golden ribbons. ::Open it.::

Susan looked at Lucy, who was cradling her gifts. She looked at Peter, who was checking the line of his sword and posing. She looked back to Edmund, who was staring at the small package nervously.

::You were called the Just, and although it may not be fair that your gifts have waited so much longer than those of your siblings, it is just, for these gifts will serve you in much greater stead here in Valdemar.:: Tesnel pushed the package towards Edmund with a paw. ::Open it, King Edmund.::

Susan sat down next to her younger brother. “Open them, Ed. It’s okay.”

“You know why Father Christmas didn’t give me gifts when he gave them to the rest of you lot.” Edmund did not look at Susan; he was staring at the wrapped parcels. “I don’t deserve these.”

“I say,” Susan said, as firmly as she could muster, “that if Father Christmas says that now is the time for these presents, well then, you oughtn’t do him a disservice by ignoring them. Come on, Ed. It’s time.”

Edmund pierced her with a look, such an inscrutable look that Susan struggled not to gasp. “‘It’s time’, says Queen Susan. Then I guess it must be.” He opened the package, his fingers seeming to tremble on the wrappings.

::To be just,:: Tesnel seemed to whisper in their minds, ::you need both strength and understanding. The mace is an ugly weapon, King Edmund, that you remember that war is ugly and use it only when needed. And the vial, well, that offers understanding. One drop on your tongue, and you will speak any language. One in your ear, and you will understand any speech. One drop on your eyes, and you may read or write any language.::

Edmund managed a thank you that was rather stammered. To Susan’s eyes, he looked stunned. He touched the gifts again, as if reassuring himself that they were truly there.

::You will all have need of yours gifts soon, I’m afraid.:: Tesnel bowed her head. ::You have been called here because, as Narnia once was, Valdemar is now: they are in need of help. Soon, a companion will arrive to explain things to you. But know this, children of another land, kings and queens of Narnia: :: The firecat looked solemn and serious, in the way they had only known one other feline to look. ::This is not an easy road, but it is a necessary one. And it may be that you four are the only ones who can walk it.::

The firecat wiggled its whiskers, a gesture that should have been comical and was instead sad, and was gone, leaving the four of them standing alone in front of a strange forest.

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/963929.html

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A Double-AU Crossover in need of a title, part the second: Intimations

Jul7

First: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/955989.html

The tension was high in the room, and one of the most deadly people in the world was smiling at Tony. Things were about to get really, really bad.

Tony leaned back against his suit and grinned, his billionaire playboy philanthropist smile, all razzle and a little bit of dazzle. “Oh, you know me.” He flipped his hand sideways, taking in the whole tower and everything else. “I like to fuck everyone.”

He leaned forward before she could attack, which was a miracle in and of itself. She was holding back. Why was she holding back?

Hopefully, the same reason he was.

“And,” he added, in an entirely different voice, one he normally reserved for Pepper and other deadly serious situations, “I always keep my word. Including to my crew, Agent Romanoff. I seem to recall saying that the Avengers are the most important thing in my life — aside from Pepper, because you know she wouldn’t stand for being second to saving the world or anything.” He raised his eyebrows at her. Her move.

She rolled back on her heels, her hands settling at her sides. “You’re saying you’d be in a crew with a Shenera Osera.”

“No.” Tony shook his head, caught her eye, and smirked. “That would be crazy if, say, I was a Shenera Endra.” He flipped his hand negligently. “I’m an Avenger. You’re an Avenger. That makes us crew. The rest is just details.”

Deliberately, Tony threw off the most casual salute he had ever managed — it barely made it within a mile of his face — and turned back to the suit. “Could you pass me the welder?”

She was up against him before he’d finished the sentence. “You don’t like having things handed to you.” Her breath was warm on the back of his neck. In terms of stupid ways to die — well, he’d come up with worse.

“Crew, remember? Besides, Dum-E’s scared of you. You’re very intimidating.”

Natasha handed Tony the spot welder. Her hand lingered there, and her eyes lingered on his.

There were reasons he didn’t like being handed things. Tony held the eye contact. This was important.

“Tony? Tony, I know you’re in there. You’ve been avoiding your mail all week.”

Pepper had the world’s worst timing, or perhaps the world’s best. The door slid open and Pepper came around the corner, something waving in her hand.

Before Tony had had a chance to even think about moving, Romanoff was five feet away, leaning against Dum-E like he wasn’t terrified of her and studying her nails. “What did Tony do this time?”

Pepper was, of course, brilliant. She studied the two of them for a heartbeat, decided it was nothing she had to worry about, and looked directly at Tony, still shaking the letter. Proper paper, folded, he noted, with a wax seal. “Do you know what this is?”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Heavy rag paper, looks like, someone still using the outdated system of the US Postal Service – unless they sent it by Pony Express? The Post Office machines can’t handle wax seals. They didn’t consult Stark Industries on those. That was a Hammer design.”

Pepper didn’t listen. She had quite a bit of skill not listening to Tony. “This,” she hissed, her voice soft, “Is a letter from ‘the Council,’ demanding you explain your actions. Tony, who — or what — is the Council?”

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/978324.html

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A Double-AU Crossover in need of a title, part the first

Jul1

“They think you’re human, you know.” Tony wasn’t looking at Romanoff; he had his head buried in his new favorite suit and one arm in what would be, if the suit were a person, the sort of compromising position that the tabloids would love to catch him in.

He didn’t have to be looking at her, of course; JARVIS was looking at her and relaying the image. Tony didn’t know if Romanoff knew that, but she did raise one elegant eyebrow at Tony’s ass. “Think?”

“You and Clint both. Rogers, the big guy, they know what they are. Thor — Thor is his own jumbo-sized issue, but I think you and I both know what he is. But you and Clint, the rest of the team thinks you’re human.”

“And you think you know differently.” She’d shifted her posture. Tony might not have noticed, but JARVIS did. She had three — no, four — weapons on her body, not counting the exquisite weapon that was her body.

Of course, she was standing in Tony’s workroom, which meant she was surrounded by his weapon. It could go either way.

Tony didn’t extricate himself from the suit. “Look. I could be wrong, in which case you can say I’m crazy, which will only be the third or fourth time today.”

“Fifth.” Her posture hadn’t relaxed.

“Fifth, fine.” He found the bolt he was trying to replace, and, for a moment, was silent, fiddling deep in his spare suit’s nether region. “Or I’m right — and I’m never wrong — in which case the real question is, do you prefer the Gods or the Law?”

Silence reigned. Romanoff, Jarvis reported, was moving, but they were micro-movements. She was considering her answer.

That wasn’t a good sign. Toss out the option that she was human — she wasn’t. Toss out the option that she was unaligned, not part of either sect of Ellehemaei — fae, fairies, elves — living on the planet. That meant she was planning on killing him, deciding if he was full of bullshit, or she was some entirely different sort of madness, which could pose some problems.

She rolled back on her heels. “You’re not going to ask if I prefer to fuck animals or break my word?” She was using the eyebrow again. Either it was reflexive, or she knew he was watching.

“Well.” She definitely knew what he was talking about. Monkey-fuckers and Oathbreakers, that’s what the two groups called each other.

Tony pulled himself out of the suit and wiped his hands down. He took his time at it, getting the grease out from his cuticles. Then, and only then, he graced Agent Romanoff with his most charming smile. “There’s no need to be rude.”

“Unless there is.” She was smiling. Tony was beginning to get worried. “So, tell me, Mr. Stark, do you prefer to fuck animals or to break your word?”

Crossover of Avengers and Fae Apoc and thus turning both of them into a bit of an AU, including there being super-science in fae apoc now.

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/958239.html

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On the Other Side of the Door, a continuation of a fanfic of Narnia and ???

May26

first: A Door in the Wall
II.
Peter insisted on leading the way, of course. “I wish I had my sword.”

“Fat lot of good it would do you, climbing through a tunnel,” Edmund scoffed. The tunnel – for indeed the door opened into a tunnel, planked in wood and about hip-high on Peter, who was still the tallest of them. “Do you remember that time—”

“Hsst.” It was all three of them at once shushing him. Edmund colored but closed his mouth; he knew as well as they all did that one did not speak of Narnia where grown-ups might be listening. And in this place, with tunnels in the walls, who knew who might be listening?

“I’ll go second, then,” Edmund allowed, with poor grace but at least a little common sense. “Lu, you bring up the rear. And remember—”

“Of course, Edmund.” Lucy sighed loudly. “I shan’t close the door all the way behind me.”

“Lu, there’s no need to be like that.” Peter dropped down to his knees and clambered into the tunnel. “Edmund, do you have a torch?”

“I have two.” Edmund pursed his lips and then, making some sort of decision, passed one of his torches to Lucy. “Hold up, Peter, don’t go without us.” He hurried through the doorway.

Susan followed behind him, glad she had chosen to wear trousers. She could hear Lucy behind her and see the beam of the torch, although the tunnel was far less dark than one would suppose.

“It seems to go on a long time,” Peter called back. “It made a right turn, but it’s still going. Shouldn’t there be a wall here?”

Susan came to the right turn. The wood was very smooth under her hands and knees, and chilly, more like stone than wood. “I wonder what they built it for?”

“Maybe,” Lucy’s voice seemed to light up, “they were smuggling weapons. Or perhaps people. You could sleep in here all right, and if you turned the corner, even if someone found the doorway, they wouldn’t see you right away.”

It was on the tip of Susan’s tongue to say Honestly, Lucy or just Oh, Lu, the way she’d done so many times recently. But something about the tunnel made her remember another passage that had gone on a very long time, and she found something kinder to say instead.

“Perhaps they liked mysteries. I do wonder what’s above this space, though.”

It felt pleasant to be nice to Lucy. Things had been so ragged between them lately, especially since Lu and Edmund’s last visit to Narnia. Susan couldn’t remember the last time she’d giggled with her sister, the way they had when they were younger, especially when the boys were being gits.

“I think I… oh. I think I found something. Hurry up, Edmund.” Peter’s voice sounded strange, far-away and strained. Susan bit her lip. He’d sounded like that once when a Calormene archer caught him badly in the gut with a nasty, barbed arrow. Had he found some sort of rat-trap or other awful thing? Had he-

“Oh, girls, hurry up!” Edmund’s voice was all excitement. “You’ve got to see this!”

Susan’s worry flooded away, and in the space it had left, she found herself scolding. “Edmund, do hush. You don’t want them all to know we’re crawling around in here, do you?”

“I don’t think that’s a problem, Susan. Come on!”

Something in his voice spurred her on; his voice, and something in the air. She could feel a breeze, a breeze with a touch of spring seeming to waft in on it. “Oh, Lu,” she murmured. Her heart was pounding and she was moving along the passage as quickly as she could.

And then all of a sudden there was no more passage, and her vision was obscured by bright sunlight. Peter offered her both hands; it had to be Peter, because nobody else had those ridiculous sword-callouses he thought nobody would notice.

“Are we—” Her throat was tight.

“I don’t think so.” Her brother sounded apologetic, not at all as if they had just come through a secret passage into the sunlight. “Here. Look around, tell me what you think.”

That was something new since they had returned from Narnia.

Peter had not previously been all that interested in Susan’s opinion on matters outside the house or their siblings, but, as if he’d gotten used to the idea while they’d all been reigning Kings and Queens, now he tended to look for ideas outside himself.

Susan looked around. Behind them was dense forest, dark and heavy. She could see, very vaguely, the tunnel they had come through; Lucy was climbing out of it now. To their right, hills rose up into mountains in the distance, and to their left, there was more forest.

The forest behind them gave off a sensation of watching, at the same time similar to and entirely different from the talking trees of Narnia.

“This is no place I have ever stood nor rode in Narnia, nor in any other land in that realm.” She found herself putting on what she thought of as her Queen Susan voice and what the girls in school had taken to calling her Snotty and Full of Herself voice. “It is – it’s not Narnia. I don’t think it could be.”

“Then where is it? Where could we possibly be, if not Narnia?” Lucy was looking around desperately. She wore a sad smile on her face, one that was at once desperate and eager. “It could have changed, Susan, you know that time passes so fast sometimes in Narnia.”

Susan closed her eyes, feeling a breeze on her face that had never touched Aslan’s mane. “It could have, Lu,” she agreed slowly. Aslan had told them all that Narnia was closed to them. They had gotten to old. “Or… we could have a brand new adventure, the four of us.”

::We are hoping that you might::

Susan knew that she was not the only one that jumped. The voice – the voice had appeared in their heads, rather than taking the normal route through the ears. She had been so certain they were alone in their little clearing. Had she become so lax with city living that she had not noticed someone sneaking up on them?

Her first glance around showed no-one. She slowly lowered her hand from her shoulder, where her quiver ought to have been, and saw Peter’s hand drop from his hip, where his sword would have ridden.

Edmund, however, was staring at… she hadn’t thought to look down; how long had it been since she had been in Narnia? Down, where the mouse could already be stabbing you…

And a very tall cat – very likely a Cat – was sitting there, very peaceably. It reminded Susan of a Siamese cat, with its pointed face and very tall ears. Those ears were rust-colored, as was its muzzle and paws, giving the impression of a white cat who’d gotten itself a bit dirty.

::Harrumph. I have not been playing in any old armories, thank you very much:: The Cat’s lips did not move, but the cant of its ears assured Susan that it, indeed, was doing the talking. ::Welcome to Valdemar, children. It was thought that you could help us here and, in doing so, perhaps you could find the help that you needed as well.::

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/958642.html

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Revel, a beginning of a Fanfic (TPB) (MCU)

May18

“Friend Pepper, shall we revel?” Thor waggled his eyebrows playfully.

“Why, Thor, I think that would be a lovely idea.” Pepper poured two glasses of her favorite Norwegian Silvaner and returned the smile. “Why don’t we revel around this glass of wine, mmm?”

“Bah, wine. Pour me some ale!” Thor’s smile only grew as he sipped the wine. “This is a fine revel indeed, Friend Pepper.”

The first time he’d asked her that, Friend Pepper, shall we revel, the Avengers had just finished a successful raid on a Hydra facility. Tony and Bruce had disappeared into the lab, the way they did, and Pepper had been left minding the party, the way she did.

Three or four or seventeen drinks in – it was unlike her to lose count, but she’d been more than a little irritated with Tony and drinking let her pretend she was’t – she’d found herself wondering what a god’s lips taste like. Several more drinks later, she’d found out.

The second time he’d asked her that, she’d been sure to stay sober enough to remember every detail of what making love a god was like.

And now, when he asked it, she knew that he meant one thing. And she never said no to him, although on occasion, she would say “maybe in a little bit, Thor. I need to wait until the crowd thins out before I start drinking.”

Today, she raised her eyebrows at him. “Do have a drink, Thor. Bruce? A drink? It’s a very nice wine.”

“Maybe a glass,” Burce allowed. He was watching her shyly; he often watched her cautiously when he thought she wouldn’t notice. Pepper was more than a little practiced at working with erratic geniuses, however: she always noticed.

“The more the merrier,” Thor boomed. He met Pepper’s eyes and his grin widened even further. “If two people make for an entertaining revel, than three shall make it a wonderful party, no?”

“I’m not exactly the life of the party,” Bruce demurred.

“Nonsense! I have seen none more lively than you, when you seek to be.”

“That’s not me, that’s the Big Guy.”

“Well, perhaps at another time, friend Big Guy can revel with us. But tonight, Friend Banner, would you partake in the fruit of the vine and –” Thor faltered, and picked up again, “–and then the fruit of other vines, with the Lady Pepper and I?”

He really was. Thor was really propositioning Bruce Banner. With Pepper, or at least assuming Pepper’s consent.

No, not assuming. He’d met her eyes again, and for a moment he looked very serious. He raised his eyebrows. Definitely a question.

Pepper considered the answer for all of a heartbeat and a half. “Come on, Bruce, we’d love your company. Since all the others have gone off –” She pitched her voice just right to sound playful rather than petulant. “–and left me alone with you two wonderful men. We might as well have a good time.”

And, with any luck, a good time would once again morph into a very good time. She smiled charmingly at Bruce and waited for him to take the bait.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/942984.html. You can comment here or there.

A Door in the Wall, a beginning of a fanfic of Narnia and ???

Apr10

warning: small cliffhanger.

Susan Pevensie had been tempted, when she found the secret doorway in her room, to keep it to herself.

The four of them were staying at a house in the country for summer and, while it wasn’t nearly as nice or as large as the place where once they had found a world in a wardrobe, it was solid, and old, and full of strange passageways where there shouldn’t have been any – including in the room Susan had been given, just behind the mirror.

It was quite tempting to sneak through on her own, to see what was behind the door and, for once, have an adventure she didn’t have to share. Lu and Edmund had gotten to go back to Narnia, a tiny part of her brain whispered. However, the more sensible part of her mind suggested that, while there was nothing at all like being a King or Queen in Narnia to be had in the whole world and, yes, Lu and Edmund had gotten one more chance at it, but they were all in the same boat now. And if they were all cut off from Narnia, it would be nothing but cruelty to explore without them.

(In the end, Susan was not only a sensible sort, but, while she had been named fairly Queen Susan the Gentle, she could just as well have been named the Fair.)

And so, despite the door just about staring at her from behind the mirror, despite the feeling of adventure just beckoning her, Susan waited until after dinner, until the adults who were minding them had gone off to play chess and left them, it was assume, to more childish pursuits. Only then did she beckon them all into her room.

“This had better not be about makeup.” Lucy had been nearly unbearable about certain things for the last couple years: Make-up, boys, school-work. It was as if she felt Susan was betraying her. Since Susan was intending nothing of the sort, she had settled for sighing and ignoring Lucy’s outbursts.

This time, however, she found her temper a little pricked. “Of course I wouldn’t want to torment you with anything so vile, Lu. No make-up, no clothing – wear something old and durable, all right?”

“That’s clothing, Susan.”

“But it’s not fashion.” Susan desperately hoped that Lucy outgrew this phase soon. Please? Hurry.”

Something about her voice must have caught their attention. The door could be nothing, of course. But it had been so carefully hidden, so very neatly crafted. If Susan had not dropped a hair-comb behind the mirror, she may have never found it at all.

It was Peter who gave her the strangest looks. “We’ll be right there, Susan,” he assured her. Always the big brother, always the King.

It seemed to take them forever to make their way from their own rooms to Susan’s room. They had to make certain the adults were really ignoring them, of course, and Lucy had actually changed into something old and durable. Susan had taken the time to do the same, putting on an older dress, the one she liked for picnics and other outdoor pursuits. If they were going to be crawling about – for the door only reached to her shoulder – she wanted to be prepared.

“Well?” Edmund looked at Susan impatiently. “What it is? Only there was a book I was going to read tonight…”

Susan felt a sensation like flying coming over her. She found her lips curling into a silly smile, which was quite unlike her. “Oh, Edmund,” she teased. “When did you become so boring?”

“What is it, Susan?” Even Peter sounded a bit impatient now. Susan’s smile grew wider.

With a flourish, she pushed the large mirror aside.

“It’s… a wall, Susan.” Edmund sounded particularly snotty.

“No, not just a wall.” The trigger was on the floor, right where nobody would ever put their foot, but where they might put a hand if they were picking up a hair-comb. Susan leaned on it until the door clicked open. “It’s a doorway.”

next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/945222.html

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/921310.html. You can comment here or there.

I Made an AO3 account…

Apr3

(it’s aldersprig, of course).

And I have not all that much fanfic, and 9/10 of that is xover with Addergoole or Tir Na Cali.

So – prompt me fanficcy things, xover or not, that I can write as a stand-alone story. Not sure if I’m in a fandom? Feel free to ask.

Off the top of my head, I’m fluent enough in the following settings:
Leverage, Criminal Minds, Bones (early), Dr. Who (new), Torchwood(early, and iffy), Terry Pratchett/Discworld, Piers Anthony/Xanth (with some effort), Marvel cinematic universe, Batman comics (to some degree), Neil Gaiman’s Dream comics, Valdemr (Mercedes Lackey)… Narnia, Harry Potter, poss. Divergent…

I’m sure there’s more.

I don’t know how many I’ll get to, or how fast. But I’ll post ’em as I write ’em.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/918661.html. You can comment here or there.

When All Else Fails, Make a Plan

Mar20

This is fanfic of cluudle‘s lovely series of storied titled A Small Mistake (warnings for “abuse of power, teacher/student relationship, piles of mind control for everyone.”) It’s just a beginning, but I was thinking of students watching Kayla, and…</i.

Ayler had never intended to be at a supervillain school. He was suppose to be a hero, the son and grandson of heros.

But after what had happened, none of the hero schools would take him in. He looked too much like his father, sounded too much like his father. And because they all believed that his father had been brilliant, there was no way he could say to them, “look, my dad made a stupid mistake. If he’d survived it, he could have learned from it. I can learn from it, and I’m certainly not going to make the same mistake he did.”

The problem was, nobody thought it was a mistake.

But what he couldn’t say to the heros, he could say to the headmaster of Hero Bridge Academy. They were more than willing to hear that the great hero had been stupid, and they were more than willing to ask him in detail what he would do differently, in his father’s tights.

Ayler knew that the heroing community would take his “defection” as a sign that the blood was bad, that his father must have gone rogue. But Ayler had no siblings and his cousins were well-established already. He wasn’t hurting anyone but himself – and they’d left him no choice.

Ayler knew what he was going to do. He sat in the lunchroom and watched them, the kids of supervillains, the ones who had been kidnapped, the ones who had no choice but to be here. Junior heros did it all the time; he didn’t see why he shouldn’t, too.

He was going to form a team.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/910753.html. You can comment here or there.