Sune was getting annoyingly used to being able to carry objects around, balanced atop her abdomen. She knew there was beauty in pregnancy. It was a true expression of love between two individuals, creating new life that in turn was loved. In the most ideal of situations. In practice she had been unable to bathe herself without assistance of late.

Additionally, none of her favourite gowns were cut to accommodate her current shape, she had to urinate at seemingly all times, she was left with weird pangs in her legs from where their daughter pressed into her nerves, and said daughter's strength had grown with each day to the point that were Sune mortal she may be concerned about her ability to hold up under the onslaught.

So to become accustomed to it was in fact, quite frustrating. Sune had done almost anything she could think of to induce labour at this point. She had pinned Arjay down and had her way with him. Plenty of times. She had taken to eating the spiciest foods possible across the vast multiverse, she had attempted acupuncture- though it had only lasted long enough for the needles to break on her skin.

Sune was done with this. She wished Mel'inde to be born such that Sune may have some minor relief from the absurd discomforts she was being put through. Of course, she wished also to meet her child properly, but that was swiftly moving down her list of reasons why she wanted to be in labour right this moment, thank you.

She sighed as another preparatory contraction hit her body. One of those ones that made certain your muscles were prepared when it came time to deliver. They had been plaguing her on and off for months, and were just another thing she was excited to see end. The fact that they were getting more painful the closer they came to the date of their child's expected birth was not appreciated. She curled her hand more tightly around Arjay's as she continued her aimless walk through the hub, just hoping that something would set her off and they could get this over with.

Sune vaguely hoped that Arjay wouldn't want any more children. At least for a long time.

Noticing a brilliant flower in the distance, Sune turned to her beloved to remark about it when she froze solid. It would take only a moment to notice the pool of amniotic fluid around their feet- and Sune knew what it was the second it broke.

Clearing her throat, she smiled shakily at her lover. "Beloved, it seems that Mel'inde has decided she is finally ready. It is time."

@mike

Dean was nervous.

It was stupid. He knew that. He'd hung out with Cas at bars or restaurants loads of times, and what, they'd been dating for months and even sorta had a baby and a teenager together. Which was still weird, but whatever. It worked.

A date, though? This was new territory. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd been on a real date. Or what a real date was.

The other thing was, in the chaos of their lives--between the hunting and taking care of a baby and the big fucking city that had fallen on the Hub--they hadn't...done much. Some kissing and groping here and there, which was... nice. Obviously. But here was date night and that MEANT some shit and the fact that Dean had porked just about every waitress on I-80 wasn't making him any less jittery about tonight. It wasn't just sex. It was sex with a dude, and with Cas specifically. Maybe. Or maybe that wasn't what date night was about. Who knew how angels did it. Dean took a moment to reflect that maybe this was what Sam meant when he said Dean had communication issues.

Whatever. He checked over his reflection in the chrome of the Impala's bumper, gave his shirt a sniff (motor oil, mostly) then went and headed up the stairs to meet Cas. They were going out to dinner.

@alex

Tony stared at the code on the holoscreen, his vision swimming. He'd been in the lab a few hours, since...he thought back, frowning. Well, he'd got back from Chris's world, and there had been a day or two after that, and then-- okay, so, it had been more than a few hours. Assuming it was really Thursday like the console said it was.

He'd never lost a day when Extremis had been functional. But then, that was the problem.

The problem that fout near-straight days of labwork had failed to solve. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the last cup of coffee he'd downed (and God knew he wasn't counting those anymore) to work.

He was a genius, but he also knew the limits of his ability and when to ask for help. The issue was that the only expert in this particular area was Maya Hansen and Maya was dead.

Then he sat up in his chair.

Damn it.

Maya wasn't the only one.

Talk about a last resort, though. Doom's niece. Or fake niece. Or something. Assuming he came out of it alive, he'd never live it down. Still. He wasn't getting any closer to a solution, and staring at the code for another week wasn't going to get him anywhere. So he sighed, typed out a message and set it to find her. He knew it would.

Need advice on biolinked software. Willing to negotiate. Try not to kill me. --TS

@mike

This soul was one of his.

Bes rested his head on the empty vessels shoulder, tears slowly carving down dark cheeks, he had failed this mortal in his life, he held onto the sullenly glowing embers of his soul, awaiting his Sister or Father, or one of Deaths direct minions.

His followers were nominally craftholders, homemakers, families, but anyone that invoked his name to make their home welcoming was his. And he theirs.

He did not mind being a minor god, never seeking power, dominion, and in this world his hold was weak, unable to do enough to bless this man. To lighten his burden, because if Bes had been a greater god there would be no way a follower of his would succumb to despair in his home, in Bes’s bailiwick.

“I failed him.” He explained to the familiar presence that joined him.

@alex
@eve

As Director of SHIELD, CEO of Stark Industries, and supervising (if not leading) the Might Avengers, Tony had been in a constant state of feeling like there weren't enough hours in the day. Since he'd come to the Hub, however, and Wanda had quite literally stopped the clock, he'd found himself with a wealth of time. He could always work on his armor, of course, and there were half a dozen projects he'd been meaning to make progress on for SI, and he was spending a few evenings a week with Safi, at least when the other man was in the Hub. But that left stretches, hours at a time, where there was nowhere he needed to be and no one to answer to. On the one hand, that was a good thing. On the other, being alone with his thoughts was...risky, to say the least. It better to keep himself occupied.

So, he explored. There were thousands of worlds, maybe more, all connected through the Hub, and each one was potentially a wealth of knowledge and new technology and possibility. All he had to do was suit up, find a portal, and disappear. He'd already been to half a dozen worlds and had picked up as many ideas for upgrades to his armor and the latest in renewable energy.

Then, one portal later, he was in the middle of a war zone. Who was shooting he had no idea, and the bullets pinged harmlessly off his armor but the more advanced weaponry looked like it wouldn't and before he knew it he was pinned behind the burnt out husk of an old building, and the portal (not as stable as he'd hoped) had just shimmered out of existence.

Tony cursed--he wasn't especially afraid for himself, but he'd left a few experiments running that would need adjustments in an hour or two--and edged around the side of the building. Then cursed again.

He wasn't alone. A rough-looking man was coming directly toward him, and the suit's scanners told him plainly that this was no ordinary human. Tony stood up straight, raising his hands so that his palm repulsors were facing the man, and said over the sound of the distant gunfire, "I don't want any trouble here. Hopefully that's something we can agree on, no?"

@dark

Today Blair was curious of the various multiverses yet the machine war was calling.

She was alarmingly one of the few pilots the Resistance counted on and trusted with the plane given to her.

However, she was sent on a mission out of her hub to go find out what the multiverses were really all about.

Barnes stared at her and told her not to drag Marcus back to base if she could.

She just angrily glared in Barnes direction, packing up everything before walking out to her A-32 Warthog and hopping in, doing the normal protocols before lifting off and before anyone else could tell her no, she was off into the blue skies.

"Blair, you read?"

Blair nodded through her mask "Yes, what is it?"

"Bring some interesting tech back to help fight Skynet."

Blair thought for a second and then nodded "Right, Right. "

Tony didn't want to be here.

There was no other choice, he reminded himself. Safi and Chris needed his help, and that was going to mean suiting up. Bes had done as good a job patching him up as Tony could possibly expect from a cheerful midwife trapped in a land of 18th century technology, there was really no substitute for modern medical technology. Especially with many of Extremis's more useful features, including his healing factor, offline.

Still. He was already rolling his eyes in preparation of the sneering lecture he knew he was walking (well, crutching) into. He'd let already let Justin know he was coming. It was just a matter of biting the bullet and dealing with him.

He raised his hand to the buzzer of Justin's practice, because of course Justin was too good for any Avengers headquarters, and pressed it. "Justin? I'm here. Let's get this over with."

@mike

One second John was swinging a machete at that eerily glowing tentacle monster, finally about to free the small town it'd been terrorizing, and the next second the slimy sonofabitch had wrapped a twisting limb around his ribs and tossed him headfirst at the brick wall of the dark alley behind him.

He was very surprised to slam into the dusty asphalt of a stretch of barren highway in the bright sunlight.

What. In the hell.

John pushed himself up, gritting his teeth as his bruised body protested, then shaded his eyes with his hand to survey his surroundings.


He knew this highway.

Shit, shit, shit.

It was just his luck the monster would somehow throw him all the way to god damned Lawrence when his boys were half the country away in California. Hell. Dean had been expecting him back by midnight, and here the sun was shining. He must’ve lost half a day.

The boys were safe for now, in a locked and salted motel room with food for a week as long as they stretched a little. But John didn’t like being so far away, not when Bobby or Caleb or Jim wasn’t even there to look in on them.

He took a couple deep breaths to calm himself. Dean was twelve but he wasn't stupid. Worst came to worst he knew what to do if John didn't come back from a hunt. And it wasn't like John WASN'T coming back. He just needed to make his way into town, find a pay phone and let Dean know he was okay but that he’d be a few days late in coming home. Then he could hitch his way to the bus station and put his newly defrauded credit cards to use in taking the first bus out west.

Thank God, salvation was coming his way in the form of a car heading toward the crossroads not far from where he was standing. He jogged forward, hoping to catch it before it turned onto the highway going crossways and missed him entirely.

The car turned. John swore under his breath. And then he stared, squinting into the bright sun across the asphalt, because-- that was the Impala. His Impala. He'd know it anywhere.

He jogged after it in earnest now, watching as it pulled off the highway--a mile or so down, maybe, so it was hard to see--into what might've been an old drainage ditch.

There way no way in hell this was a coincidence. Maybe someone had used that creature to get him here. And that meant if he could find whoever or whatever was driving his car, he could find out what the hell he was doing back in Kansas and make the bastard send him back to Cali. Back to his boys. He gripped his machete tight and followed the car.

@eve