"If there's one thing I know it's karaoke," she said, and he held out the microphone. "It's your funeral."
Me? Answering this 4 years later?? With an oc I've never introduced? And a pairing I've never talked about? It's more likely than you think.
---
"If there's one thing I know it's karaoke," she said, and he held out the microphone. "It's your funeral."
Peter hummed as he flicked through the songs. "Uh uh. And who taught you, I wonder? Someone handsome, I imagine."
Verielle only just resisted rolling her eyes. She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Oh, I doubt you'd know him. It was some scraggly terran-"
"Scraggly?"
"-who thought it was a brilliant idea to break into a heavily guarded castle via the crown princess's window-"
"Hey!" He protested, looking away from the music player long enough to glare at her. The effect was lost when his eyes crinkled at the corners, holding back a smile. He pointed a finger at her. "You know this already. I was given outdated information. My fault? Certainly not."
Vee rolled the microphone between her palms and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't think to check the information beforehand?"
"I'm a very trusting person, Vee."
A laugh burst out of her. "TRUSTING? You thought that merchant the other day was trying to drug you!"
"You don't know he wasn't!"
"It was a child! Selling sweets! His mother was watching over him!"
"Nope, makes it worse. Children are devious." Quill stopped scrolling through the music player, seemingly coming across a song he deemed suitable for them. "God knows I was." He hit play on the machine. Music started filtering through the ship's speakers. When Verielle had first heard terran music, she'd thought it very strange. To be fair, Quill had thought the same of her planet's songs. Over the course of a few years, though, each other's musical taste had grown on them. They still tended to mostly use terran songs for karaoke, but Vee didn't mind. They had more lyrics, so it made sense. Plus, Peter still tended to trip over the pronunciation of her native dialect.
Across from her, Peter smirked, picking up his own mic. "Alright. Winner buys dinner," he reminded her.
Vee just grinned, confident and a little cocky. "Bring it on, Quill."
Person A is Isabelle. Person B is wearing a very, very dangerous and corruptive? magical artifact. Isabelle wants it OFF. Person B is not complying. Isabelle is about to drop her pacifistic nature.
You are one of the most feared villainesses in the world. Evil armies, dark powers, you have it all. Your husband on the other hand is the exact opposite, being truly kind and mild mannered. He is still supportive of your endeavors, even trying to be a villain himself to…varying results.
Timeline: Several months post No Way Home, Pre Moon Knight, Pre Identity Reveals
Characters: Peter Parker, Alice, mentions of Venom
Warnings: None
Rating: T
Author: Mod Belle
"How are you so happy?" Peter looked at her in surprise, but Alice hardly noticed. The more she learned about this boy, this boy who'd lost his entire family and still greeted her at the Daily Bugle's office every day with a smile, the less she understood him.
A flurry of mixed emotions ran rampant in her. Confusion. Anger. Jealousy. Grief. Frustration. Venom was conspicuously silent. "You're like this - happy sunshine boy! How?! The world screwed you over! It's screwed you over SO MANY TIMES! How - HOW are you HAPPY?"
Peter was quiet. He looked back out at the sky. Alice distantly registered what she'd said, and realized she may not get a reply. Not like she'd deserve it after that outburst. Here she was, sitting next to someone who'd only shown her kindness and yelling at him for not being an emo prick.
"I'm pissed."
The sun was setting, casting pinks and oranges over the clouds above and city below. Peter stared out at it, a thousand memories playing behind his eyes that Alice couldn't see. His brows were lowered, but it was a thoughtful look. Contemplative. Not angry. Not hurt.
"Sometimes I remember everything that's happened," Peter said . His hands were folded loosely in his lap, thumb running across the soft skin of his palm. "And I wonder what the point of trying is anymore if the universe is just going to keep handing me losses." His thumb pressed into his hand until the skin turned white.
Then he sighed and it was like his whole body let go of something. He stopped putting pressure on his hand.
"If there's one thing I've learned," he told her, and there was a quietness to his voice now, "it's that the world isn't going to stop. It's not going to hold back its punches, even when you're down."
Alice swallowed. There was a lump in her throat now. "Then how…" She croaked. Her eyes watered but she held back the tears. Out of stubbornness or anger or out of a need to not be more vulnerable than she already was, she didn't know. "How do you keep going? Without…it consuming you?"
"Honestly?" Peter turned his gaze back towards her. "You struggle with it. There are bad days. Maybe bad weeks. But…" He inhaled, and it was shaky. "But you try your best to anchor yourself. Remember…remember what they would've wanted. Remember what you still have. What you could get."
He looked down and fiddled with his hoodie ties for a moment. Alice waited, unable to speak herself, and sensing him gathering his thoughts again. After a minute, he spoke again.
"The world isn't all bad. And we make choices. It's like…" His licked his upper lip, gathering the last of his thoughts, "like a giant game of Uno."
And despite the emotion and mourning in the air between them, Alice snorted. "Uno?" She asked.
"Yeah. Yeah!" He said, getting into the idea. His hands started to move as he spoke, gesturing at invisible cards and players. "No, because, when we play Uno, we all get a hand of cards, right? And sometimes we get totally fucked over, but there are good, fun moments too, and it's up to us to decide how to use our cards."
Alice felt her mouth quirk up into a smile as he explained. "Good metaphor."
"Technically I think it's an analogy."
Alice shoved him, but the action had no real heat behind it. Peter laughed.
Silence creeped over them again, but it wasn't as suffocating this time. It was almost content. Still, Alice had one more question.
"And…if you get a bad hand of cards?" She asked.
Peter leaned back on his hands. "Well…then I guess we do the best we can with them. And if someone hits us with a plus two, maybe we'll get a good card out of it, even though it kinda sucks that it happened."
Alice hummed quietly, turning that over in her mind. She was coming down from her emotional high. Venom was still absent, giving her space.
For the next few minutes, her and Peter just stared out at New York. They watched the sun dip below the horizon from their apartment complex's rooftop, Peter leaning back and Alice with her legs hanging off the edge.
She eventually broke the silence. "You're pretty wise for your age, you know that?"
He glanced over at her, looking surprised, but it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Thanks."
Then, in unplanned but perfect unison:
"It's the trauma."
Peter cheered that someone remembered the joke from the late 2010s and Alice snickered, finally feeling relaxed.
The New Avengers are newly formed and they won against the Atlantean prince a few months back. They're all gathering around in Cora's penthouse, for lack of a better spot where they all fit, trying to get to know each other more as a group, hanging out.
Maybe they're playing Truth or Dare, or maybe they're playing a big group game of 20 questions, but someone asks Alice if she's ever broken a bone. There's a beat of surprised/awkward silence when she asks for clarification.
"...Either, I guess? I was originally thinking your own, but sure."
"Yes."
They don't really know which she's answering. She doesn't offer clarification. Everyone decides it's not something they want to ask about right then. The same continues.
Timeline: During Infinity War
Characters: Verielle of Astrea, Peter Quill, the Guardians, Doctor Strange, Tony Stark, Peter Parker
Warnings: None
Rating: T
Author: Mod Belle
"Where is Gamora!"
Weapons were raised, Drax was down, and Quill had a hostage. Verielle watched it all unfold. She kept her pistol up and knife ready. Adrenaline pumped fast in her veins.
This was one of Thanos' ships. This was the only lead they had.
She scanned their opponents, analyzing them. Red and gold was wearing some kind of full-body armor with built in weaponry. The spider Quill had a gun on was smaller, leaner. Voice sounded male. Similarly wearing some type of full body armor.
The man with the cape had his hands raised. Verielle watched him carefully, wary of his power. What exactly it was, she wasn't sure yet. She didn't recognize it. His clothing was odd, not one she knew from any region or culture she'd met or learned of.
...Not that of Thanos' generals.
Vee looked more carefully now, quickly raising her eyes to scan the man's face. Wrinkle lines, graying hair, skin texture similar to her boyfriend's, same outward anatomy...
Red and gold put his helmet down. "I'll do you one better: WHO is Gamora?" He demanded.
Drax grabbed the man's armored boot and writhed on the floor. "I'll do YOU one better! WHY is Gamora?!"
Vee barely heard it.
Red and gold's face was exposed.
Reversing hairline, similar texture to the other man's... similar to QUILL'S. Same outward anatomy, same skin texture, similar facial builds, same language and vocabulary-
Oh God.
"You're from his planet!" She swung her knife out of its ready position, using it to point at Quill. "Terra! You're from Terra, aren't you?"
Red and gold's gaze snapped to her. "Terra? What-" A brief flicker of confusion and irritation flashed across his face before it seemed to click for him too. The glow in his hand died down a lick. "You mean Earth?!" He looked back at Quill. "You're from Earth?"
Peter, meanwhile, still looked irritated and on edge. "I'm from MISSOURI," he stated roughly.
"Yeah, that's on Earth, dipshit!"
Same creative curses, Verielle silently noted.
The caped man came forward a step. "Okay, let's try this. What master do you serve?"
Quill scoffed, rolling his eyes. "What am I supposed to say, JESUS?"
Vee had enough confirmation. The men before them were from Terra, Quill's home planet. They were a group, which meant the third must be from Terra as well.
Wait.
Cape and armor both appeared older than Quill. Quill was an adult. The one he was holding was smaller than everyone else. That meant-
"OH MY STARS, YOU'RE HOLDING A CHILD!" Verielle screeched. She whapped Quill on the shoulder with the pommel of her knife. "QUILL, DROP HIM!"
"OH SHIT-"
Quill let go of the third member of the Earth party. They stumbled as their feet hit the floor, balance thrown, and coughed out a, "Thanks." A moment later, their helm came down as well.
It was a boy, definitely an adolescent, with fluffy brown hair. Like the two other Terrans, he had the same build as a Terran, if slimmer than the ones before her, and a softer face.
He straightened back out and pointed at her to address her. "I'm sixteen, by the way."
Ah, so he was Groot's age.
Red and gold spoke up again, tense voice commanding attention. "Okay, let's cut to the chase here. So you all," he waved a finger around, vaguely indicating the Guardians, "don't serve Thanos?"
"Serve Thanos?" Quill's face twisted. Vee's stomach reacted similarly at the thought. "No, I'm here to KILL Thanos."
She nodded in agreement. "He took one of our own, and an Infinity Stone."
The caped man exhaled and Vee could almost smell the stress in it. With a twist of his hand, he released Mantis from her bindings.
Red and gold lifted his boot off Drax, freeing him, satisfied with their answer. "Oh, good, same team then."
Vee holstered her weapons. Next to her Quill did similarly.
"I'm Verielle," she introduced. Gesturing with an arm towards her boyfriend, she continued, "This is Peter Quill, also known as Starlord." She waved towards her antenna-ed friend. "Mantis." And lastly gestured towards Drax, who was on his feet again. "And that's Drax."
Red and gold nodded.
"Tony Stark," he replied, tapping a finger to his armor.
Cape followed next. "Dr. Strange."
The child- teenager when last, flashing a friendly smile that was just a little crooked. "And I'm Peter. Peter Parker. People call me Spider-Man." He said and held a hand out.
Luckily, Vee knew this custom.
She stepped forward and shook his hand, smiling in return. "Pleasure."
Tony clapped his hands, drawing attention once more. "Okay, so now we know who everyone is. Next step: what's the plan?"
He didn't need to elaborate.
Together, the new group launched into plotting their confrontation with Thanos.
