Summary: When Bucky walks through a portal thinking it was one of Stephen Strange's doing, he meets with the Thunder god, Raiden in the Outworld.
Warnings: none :)
WC: 820ish
Read on AO3!
Bucky Barnes had faced many enemies—soldiers, HYDRA agents, and even himself. But as he stood in the middle of an unfamiliar, storm-torn battlefield, it was clear he was far from home as he glanced around him, slain bodies of all types. Some creatures held numerous limbs, others had bled green, purple, or even blue..
The sky above rumbled, thick clouds swirling with electric energy. The last thing he remembered was a portal opening up during his mission, a golden rift tearing through the air, something he’d assumed Stephen Strange had opened up. Now, he was somewhere else—definitely not Earth as he knew it. His metal arm buzzed in the charged atmosphere as if it could sense something, someone, watching him.
“Where the hell am I?” Bucky muttered, scanning his surroundings trying to find a person or creature who he could speak with..
"Earthrealm," a voice echoed, deep and booming.
Bucky spun around, coming face to face with a man cloaked in blue and white robes, eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. Lightning flickered around him, the energy crackling along his fingers as if it obeyed his command.
Raiden.
“I’m guessing you’re the one responsible for dragging me here?” Bucky’s voice was sharp, his stance tense, ready for a fight. He had heard of gods in myths but had never expected to meet one—let alone someone who looked like he could turn him into a pile of dust with a flick of his wrist.
Where the hell was this place?
Raiden stepped forward. His face was calm, though his presence demanded respect. “You were brought here for a reason, James Buchanan Barnes. Earthrealm is under threat, and your skills are needed.”
Bucky’s eyes narrowed. He had been manipulated before, used as a weapon by forces much stronger than him. He wasn’t going to fall for it again. “Why should I care about this ‘Earthrealm’? I’m not one of your soldiers. And i refuse to be soemone else’s pet for pleasure.”
Raiden’s eyes flashed as a streak of lightning split the sky. “Because Earthrealm’s destruction would mean the end of all realms—including yours. There is no choice, Winter Soldier.”
Bucky clenched his jaw. His metal fist curled into a ball, but he knew better than to fight against something this powerful. "Alright, Thunder God," he growled. "What's the plan?"
--
They were at the heart of the chaos, Raiden and Bucky side by side. The ground shook as monstrous foes from Outworld charged at them—creatures with tusks, claws, and powers that rivalled any Bucky had faced before. The Winter Soldier fired off rounds from his rifle, precision perfect as always, while Raiden summoned lightning, striking enemies with the wrath of a storm.
As another wave of foes came crashing down on them, Bucky found himself thrown to the ground. His weapon skidded out of reach, and his mind flashed back to countless battles, each moment forcing him to fight for his life. He couldn’t understand what he was fighting. And he fought aliens from space, which was saying something.
But before his enemy could strike, Raiden appeared in a blur of blue, lightning fast. With a shout, the Thunder God unleashed a bolt of pure electricity, frying the attacker before turning to help Bucky to his feet.
“You fight well, James,” Raiden said, his tone as calm as ever despite the battlefield around them. “But in this realm, power must be balanced with wisdom.”
Bucky grunted, wiping blood from his lip. “Wisdom won’t do much if you're dead.”
Raiden’s lips quirked into a faint smile. “Perhaps. But I believe there’s more to you than just the soldier. Your past does not define you here.”
Bucky looked at him, surprised by the words. No one had ever spoken to him like that—as they saw beyond the Winter Soldier, beyond the killer.
The battle raged on, but Bucky felt something shift inside him. Raiden wasn’t just a god wielding lightning—he was someone who understood the weight of responsibility, of carrying the burdens of an entire realm on his shoulders. In a way, it reminded Bucky of his own journey, trying to break free from the chains of his past while fighting for a better future.
Together, they were an unstoppable force. Raiden's lightning complemented Bucky's ruthless efficiency, each move calculated and lethal. They tore through the enemies like a storm sweeping across the battlefield, unrelenting and unyielding.
As the dust settled and the last of the Outworld warriors fell, Bucky stood beside Raiden, breathing heavily but alive.
“So, what happens now?” Bucky asked, looking at the destruction around them. “We just keep fighting? Forever?”
Raiden turned to him, his glowing eyes softening. “There will always be battles to fight, James Barnes. But it is up to us to choose which ones are worth it.”
For the first time in a long time, Bucky felt like maybe he had found a cause worth fighting for.
feat. | xiao, childe, hu tao, and raiden shogun
summary | breaking up w them :(
a/n | it's been so long since i've written angst omg
hu tao |
she's been together with you for so long that she can hardly remember days without you. her life's been split into two sections; With You and Without You. Without You is cold and dark, a cave in her mind where she vanishes during the night and doesn't emerge till noon the next day.
she remembers how, before she met you, she was just there--incomplete, always bouncing around, always tailing people. she was just that girl at the funeral parlor that somehow knows zhongli. she was just hu tao. she remembers how, just two weeks after you two had started dating, she'd become hutaoandyn. she'd become important.
when you sit her down at your perfect mahogany-colored dining table, your perfect hands cupping a warm, steaming tea, your earnest eyes staring into hers, saying i don't think this is working out anymore, she is convinced it's a nightmare. she lets the words flow over the top of her head, holding her breath so she wouldn't cry. she doesn't say anything (are there even words for this awful pain?), just swallows her burning tea and stands up. the chair makes an awful squeaking noise, probably scratching up the floors you love so much. and she thinks, i hope they get scratched up so bad that every time you see them you think of me. and then she had feels ashamed, and petty. she forces a smile and she waves goodbye, and then slams the door.
she sits in the car for what felt like ten years, tears dripping onto the steering wheel and the seat, her shoes in her hand, her nose burning. the sky is gray, the ground is gray, the clouds are taunting her. her fire is gray, the funeral parlor is bleak. there is no joy in steamed fish. there is no joy in pranking people, not without you.
glaze lilies bring to mind your love for puns, the way she would wake up every sunday morning with a fresh bouquet and a note pinned to them on her bedside table. her heart splits a little when she eats jueyun chili chicken, because it was your favorite. when it comes around to your birthday, she takes a long bath and cries until her throat is raw and her eyes are red and swollen. on her birthday, despite the party that her friends throw for her, she wonders if you're remembering her the way she remembers you.
xiao |
xiao has never been good with feelings, but he is completely head over heels in love for you. he would sprint in front of a moving train for you. he would stab himself for you. he would rip out his heart for you, except you've done it first.
words shouldn't be able to hurt this much, especially words coming from your mouth, your mouth which usually says, i love you, xiao. except this time, it's saying, maybe we should rethink our relationship. i think we need a break. and he knows that you aren't meaning to hurt him, just trying to move on, just trying to make yourself feel better, but that doesn't console him. he tries to make himself feel angry as you're talking to him, but he can't. it's as if he won't feel anything ever again, just the painful pressure in his head, the ringing of your voice in his ears.
do me a favor and break my nose, or tell me to go away, he screams at you, but just in his head. he loves you, still. he feels like a broken nose would hurt less than this, your patient, sympathetic smile, your cried-out eyes that show that you still care too. you reach for his hand, but he feels like your touch would burn, maybe it would make him shatter into a million pieces like glass. do people do that? do adepti do that? does anything alive do that at all?
he feels like he's drowning, like something's holding his head underwater. it's making your face all fuzzy. or maybe that's the tears in his eyes, or maybe he's tired. maybe he's so tired he's hallucinating the whole thing. but that would be too good to be true, because you're standing up and squeezing his shoulders and walking off.
he guesses that you won't have any more tea dates. and with that, he hurls his cup to the ground and watches it shatter.
raiden shogun |
raiden is unaccustomed to love, which is why it hurts more when you're breaking up with her. she had told you that she wasn't the right person to love, that she could hurt you, that she wasn't perfect. you had kissed her and told her that she was wrong, she was lying, of course she was perfect. despite her protests, she had fallen in love with you; your smile and your chin and your cheeks and your forehead. your hands, which hold hers.
she wants to slap you, make you hurt the way she does. she wants to kill you for how you made her love you and then you're making her stop. but of course, she can't stop. how could she ever not love you? you take her face in your hands and she melts, she slumps away. she tries to deny it to herself (of course you still love her!) but it feels like she's ripping away, like just a small gust of wind could strip her away to her skeleton.
bleakly, in her haze, she wonders if there's someone else. someone else who's stolen your gaze as she once did, who you think about at night and whisper stolen words into their ears. but then she thinks about you, and she realizes that would not be the case. you would be doing it because you would think that she wanted it, that she wanted space.
you kiss her cheek, and she thinks numbly, maybe if she was better at love, this wouldn't happen.
childe |
childe had never thrown himself into love as fervently as he did with yours. you could make him smile when he felt like he was dying, and your laugh had taken up a space in his brain reserved specifically for you.
he loved how the light dappling across your face could bathe you in such an ethereal glow, as if you were blessed by the archons. and, he guessed, sometimes you were. it's uncanny, the way your face showed no emotion as you took his hand and whispered, i think we need a break. his heart had shattered then, into a million pieces that dissolved into his body. maybe he could never fix it.
he stares at you, so blankly, you wonder maybe if he hasn't heard you. then he says, what? so softly, so sadly, it almost splits your soul apart. he thinks, probably, that no one will make him as happy as you did. perhaps he will never be happy again. this thought scares him, it rattles him, he never wants to forget your face.
he's never cried over someone before, but he does now. and the sight of his tears shock you, as if you've been dumped into an ice-cold bath and can't breathe. he's sobbing, hands curled into tight fists, waving you away, telling you to just go, please go, please, please go. you don't want to leave him, but you know his sadness will turn to anger and he will lash out. you press a kiss to his temple and he shouts, fuck off! fuck off and go!
as he watches you go, he thinks that simply "fuck off" might be too kind.
✦ pairing(s); keqing x gn!reader, raiden shogun x gn!reader, shikanoin heizou x gn!reader
✦ tags/genre; fluff hcs, cookies/snacks mentions
✦ wc; 1.4k
✦ notes; started writing this while downloading proseka
✦➤ Cookies were no exception to perfection. These cookies were to be perfect, and she was to make sure of that. Keqing is infamously meticulous with her work, and this was no exception. She didn't care how much effort she had to put in- it was going to happen, because she said so.
✦➤ Keqing's enthusiasm is contagious. It filled the room with a sprinkle of competition, as if she were saying, "I'm going to be making the best cookies here!". It somehow sparked an impulse of competition within you as well; perhaps that was how she was so inspirational to others.
✦➤ Despite not being any sorts of professional in baking, Keqing's movements are swift and precise. She followed the instructions to each word, and she was always sure-footed in what she was going to do next.
✦➤ Her hair or clothes never got in the way. She would always flip back her pigtails as soon as they got too close to the oven, the curls bouncing just a little on her back. She shifted the long fabric which formed her usual dress as naturally as breathing; she never took a moment off the task at hand.
✦➤ Keqing was absolutely gorgeous with her apron on. It wasn't like she wasn't gorgeous without it, but the style was something not often seen on the Yuheng. It was made to match her, probably by the design of the secretaries. Sometimes, they put their effort into the strangest of tasks... though it wasn't something to complain about in this case, not at all. It was a light shade of magenta that went with her eyes, with designs that quite completely encapsulated who she was as a person.
✦➤ It was alluring, watching the way she worked, but when she turned to face you, as she set the cookie dough in the oven, you were reminded that her smile was unforgettable as well. It was a smile of pride, of excitement, and most of all, of care. She put care into everything she did, no matter how big or how small. That was one thing that was alluring about her, even in the event of simply baking cookies. That was simply how the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, Keqing, was, and there was no other way you’d have her.
✦➤ Even as accomplished as she is, Ei can't make cookies. No matter how hard she tries, they always turn out completely burned. She wanted to make some to share with you, but it seems you'll have to make them instead... it's alright though, because Ei absolutely loves baking with you. It's one of the things that makes her wish for eternity ever stronger.
✦➤ Ei had all sorts of goods made for Tenshukaku... things that the people of Inazuma had never imagined her wanting. She suddenly seemed more human, more emotional than ever before. Even Yae Miko was pleasantly surprised at such a show of emotion. She certainly had quite a good laugh at that; it was always amusing to get a reaction out of Ei.
✦➤ Among those things that she had ordered were kitchenware and ingredients. If there was one thing she was good at in the kitchen... it was getting the materials needed to cook. Without a second thought, she had ordered the highest quality ovens and tools. Many of these were made in Sumeru, and she even made sure that they arrived as soon as possible. The ingredients were as fresh as they could be, straight from the market. According to Ei, "Any less is unacceptable."
✦➤ When she invites you to bake, she has no idea how to say it. Not once has she ever experienced this before, even in the many thousands of years she has been alive. Makoto had always been the one to do the speaking, after all. She was better at it. Nonetheless, Ei had a message for you, and she was going to say it herself, in her own words. With the help of Yae Miko, she asks, “Would you join me to bake some cookies?”
✦➤ Ei hadn’t known about it before, until Yae had told her about it- matching aprons. It had been popular among the mortals, and it was an absolutely adorable idea that she had to do with you, according to the high priestess. Of course, since Yae was more informed about such things, she had them made. They were of course of the best quality; she wouldn’t give you anything subpar. She had each of them personally designed for you and her, and she had them made in your favorite color.
✦➤ As much as she wants to try making them too, she’s very hesitant. They had all come out burnt before, and what would be the difference now? She’ll say that she’s alright with simply watching as you bake, but she’d still love to try. (She’s simply afraid of failure once again.) If you guide her and go along the process slowly, she would feel like she’s baking it herself, without that fear, because you’re there with her.
✦➤ Ei tries not to show it, but she’s very excited to taste the cookies. She’s very hopeful for how it will turn out, because you’re there with her. When you ask her about it, she gives you a smile that she won’t show to anyone else. It was something that she tried to remove from herself before you; now, she won’t let it go.
✦➤ Heizou is always eating snacks wherever he goes- it’s something he simply lives off of. Whenever you offer him a proper meal, it has to be accompanied by a snack, else he might not want to eat it. He’s surprisingly picky when it comes to food too; it’s not that he doesn’t like a lot of certain foods, it’s just that he won’t eat anything he doesn’t feel like eating at the present moment- which is usually everything except the food he’s craving.
✦➤ Heizou absolutely loves cookies; it’s something that he could eat every day- and he almost nearly does. His favorite kind is chocolate chip cookies; it’s a flavor that most people like, maybe even a “basic” flavor, but it has that certain sweetness that can’t be found in most other cookies. It was easy to eat too; something he could just pick up from the packaging and put in his mouth. It allows his mind to go off somewhere else, to anything that caught his attention.
✦➤ Heizou used to have someone go out to buy snacks for him, but he loves going out to buy them with you, even making them with you now. It used to be more convenient, faster for him to simply purchase the snacks, as it wasn’t a problem for the Shikanoin clan. (Even though his brother would often complain about the sheer amount of mora Heizou would spend on snacks) However, he’s found that making the snacks with you was much more enjoyable, in both procuring and eating them.
✦➤ Heizou brings in a list of things to buy at the grocery, but he ends up buying much more. New snack? Gonna eat it later. Ooh, something from overseas? Absolutely, we’ll have that. Suddenly, you have a lot of ingredients, some not even ingredients. But that’s okay, because he doesn’t care what other people think, and nor should you.
✦➤ As soon as you come home, you’re going to be the one to organize all the things that you (mostly he) bought. He doesn’t like putting the things away himself, but you might be able to convince him to help out- though, not without a little complaining. “But I’m the great detective! Great detectives don’t put away groceries-” “It will go missing and never come back and no there will be no mystery- I will eat it.” “I’LL PUT IT AWAY.”
✦➤ Heizou does not stick to the recipe at all. It was there for reference, but he didn’t look at it once he started. Upon looking at the recipe, he understood what steps did what and how they interacted with each other, and he modified it to his heart’s content. He never wrote down any of those, unless he really wanted to save it for later. Turns out though, he’s actually really good at creating odd recipes that taste oddly delicious.
✦➤ If he gives you a cookie without telling you what he put inside, don’t ask, because he won’t tell you- but don’t worry, it won’t harm you at all.
ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : lili’s notes…
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➽ please rb if you liked this! it would make me so happy <3
