boysofeden | Choose your poison

01. I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE Unfortunately, you can't keep lying to your partner/friend/family anymore. You just don't feel the same for them anymore.
02. I WOULD KILL YOU The person who means so much to you has done something completely unforgivable and now it's time to make sure they know where they stand. You would kill them if you ever got the chance.
03. I LOVE YOU, BUT... A bittersweet love confession. You know you love this person more than anything, but you're not sure you can give them what they need.
04. I DON'T TRUST YOU No matter how you feel about this person, you really can't trust them anymore.
05. SACRIFICE You're going to sacrifice yourself, for the person you're talking with or for the good of all humanity. You want them to know the reasons and that there's no stopping you.
06. TROUBLE You're in trouble and you might not make it through. You need to let at least one person know how you feel before it's too late though.
07. BETRAYAL You've betrayed this person and you have to tell them the truth, no more running from it
08. CHEATED You've been unfaithful and it's time to tell your lover.
09. BROKEN That's it. You've had it. You are entirely broken and tired of everything.
10. AFRAID Something has you deathly afraid and you need to talk about it.
11. HELP ME You need someone to help you, bad. You can't do it alone anymore, you've tried.
12. I'M SORRY You said something or did something horrible and now it's time to ask for forgiveness.
13. YOU WERE A MISTAKE Sorry, but whoever you're talking to was the biggest mistake of your life or maybe it was just something you did together.
14. LET'S RUN AWAY You want to just get out, leave everything behind and be with this one person for the rest of your life.
15. ASHAMED Either you're ashamed of something they have done or something you did, either way you need to bring it up.
16. CAN'T REMEMBER The person standing in front of you looks so happy to see you, so relieved, but how do you tell them you can't remember a thing about them?
17. YOUR CHOICE Either choose an option from above, mix and match, or make up your own idea.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[works for meeeee]

Natasha had a routine. When on base, she would always hit the gym late in the afternoon to get around the usual rush of users, staying long after the last person left. Some days she'd lose herself in yoga, others in boxing, still others in weights. Today was a cardio day, running relays through her own little area, working on agility, reflexes and stamina until her hair stuck to her face and breath came hot and harsh through over-worked lungs.

Grabbing a towel, Nat sat down on a bench, catching her breath and looking at herself in the large mirror. Nothing had changed -- not externally -- but ever since the battle with Loki she'd felt different. Even moreso since she'd seen him a few months earlier, inexplicably young and naive. It was an image she had trouble banishing, though one she'd managed not to talk about, even to Clint. Something simply felt wrong, like a mission ending in failure. A nagging, incessant sensation that something was out there and about to get her.

So she worked it off in the gym. Or tried to. But even as her lungs burned from excess, she still looked at the mirror and felt off. You're getting as bad as Clint, she thought, running a hand in frustration through her hair as she stood, toweling the sweat from her neck as she headed for the locker room. Maybe it was time to tell someone about what she was feeling. Her instincts were very rarely off, after all.

While he waited for her (and once the other mortals had finally left), he leant back against the lockers that faced the door, closing his eyes for a moment. He allowed himself this moment of contemplation and peace as he was certain it would be the last he'd get for a long time to come. His shackles clinked softly as he gingerly touched his wrists and hissed under his breath. The skin was raw, bruised and bleeding, but those wounds would heal soon.

Suddenly, he heard movement from outside and he swiftly slipped around the corner, hiding just behind the row of lockers. He listened for approach, listening for the sound of her breath.

And when the moment was right, he rid himself of that cloaking spell and dashed out completely visible. A horrified and exhausted expression was plastered on his face, and he tried to speak. And then he collapsed to the ground as his knees gave out beneath him, but he didn't move after that. To her, he looked almost exactly the way he did the last time they saw each other in New York City, except his superficial wounds he'd sustained in that encounter had long since healed only to be replaced with fresh ones made during his escape.

Natasha Romanova does not startle easily. It's part and parcel to being an assassin -- and a damn good one at that. But the sudden movement had her backed up against the door instantly, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. Deja vu, she thought, scanning the room for the source. Her stomach knotted and heart leapt to her throat to see it.

He looked the same as she'd last seen him -- him, not some younger version who should not have existed. Nat inhaled sharply, the exhaled shakily, trying to regain her composure before approaching the demi-god lying on the floor of the women's locker room.

"I'm beginning to think you have a fetish," she ventured, staying out of reach as she crouched to see him, face falling back into a schooled mask of disinterest.

Slowly his eyes opened slightly, closed, and then popped open as he gasped and began to frantically look around before his frightened gaze fell on her. The chains clanked and scrapped on the ground as he attempted to reach towards her. "You..." he said hoarsely, his hand recoiling as he thought better of the action.

He started to scramble away from her a second later, his actions seemingly like that of a scared animal, until his back struck the nearest wall. After catching his breath, he added, "It--it would be this realm...!"

That wasn't the reaction she was expecting. Natasha kept her distance, still crouched and watching him uncertainly as he scrambled away from her, chains clanking together. That was new and she cocked her head to the side in a mix of admiration at whoever had shackled him and confusion as to why he was here in chains. He certainly didn't sound like he meant to be.

"Expected one of the other eight realms?" she asked, voice disinterested, eyes on him like lasers.

"Any is better than here," he snapped, suddenly angry. But that fury was short-lived as he shook his head, running his hands down his face, and finally, after a moment, he spoke again. "Asgard..." He trailed off, looking away from her as he drew his knees up to his chest. His hands shook involuntarily; moreso from the metal that cut into his raw skin than any true fear, but he did his best to quell the movement anyway.

His next words were choked out of him, like he could barely bring himself to utter them.

"Asgard is no more."

There is no surprise, no expression registered on her face at his revelation, though inwardly Natasha can't help but pause, taken aback at his words. She doesn't believe it -- can't believe it -- and yet why else would Loki be here? He was being held by the Asgardians, and she hadn't seen Thor since he left.

But Loki was the god of lies. They were kindred spirits -- in that, at least.

"And only you managed to make it out?" She didn't bother hiding her skepticism, keeping a healthy distance from the demi-god, though she took keen notice in the condition of his wrists.

He didn't look up this time, not meeting her eyes. "I couldn't exactly leave and have time to search for the others at the same time," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. "If they survived, they're not going to report to me. I...I am not one to hope, in vain, that someone had."

Hot crocodile tears streamed down his cheeks that he hastily wiped away as if ashamed that she'd seen him like that. He gingerly rested his hands on his knees, forcing himself to breathe deeply as he rested his head back against the lockers again. "I do have to admit, my surprise you haven't called the others about my appearance here." His lips twitched into a faint wry smile at his jest, but that expression quickly faded away as his eyes finally locked onto hers. "Nor will I blame you for doing so now."

He made no effort to move to prove his point.

"What makes you think I haven't all ready?" she bluffed, keeping her distance, guard lowered just enough to give the illusion of trust. She didn't believe him, not entirely, and that was what made it so difficult. Half-truths were always more dangerous than lies, particularly when they came on the backs of tears.

"Come now," he said softly, not tearing his eyes away from her. "The soldiers swarm around here like flies and would have swooped down upon me long before I could explain how I got here. You haven't alerted them yet." He couldn't help smiling just a bit as he called her bluff.

"But you are in an interesting position. Do you warn them and thus limit all further access to me? Or do you tell no one and keep me all to yourself? Either way, I am not going anywhere."

He was good at this game, she gave him that. Natasha crossed her arms, keeping a safe distance. "What makes you think I can't get what I want out of you even with them involved? I'm more capable than you give me credit for."

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