"You're thinking too hard," Loki mentioned. Clint snarled, dodging Loki's fireball. They had been training for nearly a week at this point and Clint wasn't that much further in his training then he had been before. And Loki hadn't been much further in his search for answers on the spell he used. So, he was happy to distract himself with Clint who still wanted to make things difficult. Rather than doing simple spells like illusions, Clint asked to learn even more defensive and offensive battle magic.
"How can I not think hard while concentrating," the archer snapped, holding a hand out in an attempt to defuse another fireball that had been sent his way. He hissed out the spell Loki had taught him and concentrated on dismissing Loki's magic. It didn't work and out of simple curiosity, Clint dropped the spell that stopped him from absorbing other's magic. At first nothing happened, but then the fireball hit. Clint was thrown backwards and there was a warming on his chest but nothing like what would have happened had he not dropped the first spell.
"No. Do not use your magic that way," Loki ordered as Clint got to his feet. Clint arched an eyebrow. "That was purposefully weak for training. In battle, I could have made that strong enough that your absorption magic would not have been able to absorb it before the flames killed you. Super soldier or not."
"Fine. I just-"
"No just, Clint. You cannot rely on that ability in battle. If someone is attacking you with a consistent spell, then yes. It would be good to absorb the magic. But for a quick attack spell like a fireball, it would not help," Loki coached. Clint sighed and nodded his head.
"I still don't get what you mean by absorption," Tony suddenly called out to the duo. It had taken the genius a few days before he realized what the two had been doing in his gym. And it took another day and a half before he had gotten curious enough to actually ask to film them. Then another day before he began to actually study them.
"Clint has a unique ability to accept and convert magic used on him by others into his own magic," Loki described. Tony frowned.
"How?"
"I am unsure what you mean?" Loki replied.
"How? How does he convert it?" Tony wondered. Loki frowned and seriously began to think about it. Clint looked at the trickster, curious himself.
"From what I figured before, Clint's magic is like salt water. Other's magic is like fresh water. When their fresh water hits him, it rapidly turns into salt water. Meanwhile, for everyone else, we're more like... Oil?" Bucky described, stuttering at the end. Loki smiled.
"A strange metaphor but it works. As for the rest of us, it depends on the spell being used for how it responses. Some would be like oil, a mere cover," Loki explained.
"Like an illusion spell. The magic settles on the skin, not inside the person," Clint guessed. Loki nodded.
"Other spells could act more like electricity, shocking the target's system. Most of those are battle magics. There are so many varieties that it is difficult to figure the best way to describe them all. But, Clint, no matter what the spell is, absorbs and converts the magic. Quick spells like the fireball spell I did, would not be absorbed fast enough before causing damage," Loki added. Tony pinched his lips a bit before accepting the explanation. Figuring the genius was set, Loki looked back to Clint. The archer sighed and set back up his absorption blocking spell. Once ready, Loki went back to attacking. At first, Clint seemed to either be stopping or slowing the spells but then Loki amped up his attacks by a small amount.
"Damn it," Clint cried when he missed an attack and it skimmed his arm.
"Concentrate," Loki chided. Clint growled and clearly glared at the trickster. Loki arched an eyebrow. "We could go back to simpler spells."
"Yeah. Any of them gonna help stop Thanos?" Clint hissed.
"They will help you grow to these spells rather than you fumbling around in the dark," Loki retorted. Clint narrowed his eyes, stopping to seriously think about it. They had at least four years.
"Fine." Loki sighed, preparing to attack again before the word reached him. He arched an eyebrow, surprised. "Teach me some of the... 'Easier' spells."
Loki chuckled before smiling. "Why don't we go back to the one you had been doing before? Calling upon an item not in sight."
"All right. What should I-"
"Oh! I could use a coffee!" Tony interrupted. Clint frowned, thinking about it.
"I would not suggest working on liquids as of right now," Loki mentioned, holding out a hand to stop Clint before the archer even started. "You would not only have to call upon the liquid, you would need to call upon the cup and make sure they appear in the same area with the liquid being the shape of the cup you call upon."
Silence. Then Tony choked out a soft noise. "Very specific."
"Magic is not as simple as saying words, concentrating and waving a hand. There are rules that must be followed." Loki then turned to Clint. "I would suggest something easy. Similar to the steak that we did before."
"So, like a solo item rather than something like a hamburger," Clint described. Loki nodded. "Okay. I can do that."
"Don't forget to watch your aim," Bucky joked. Clint snorted but focused. He figured the best thing to go for would be an apple. One that he knew was on the common floor. With a deep sigh, Clint mumbled the spell out and concentrated on the apple appearing in his hand. A moment later, he felt something drop into his hand. He looked at it and whatever it was certainly didn't look like an apple. Bucky began laughing as Clint made a face at the item.
"What the hell is this?" Clint called, trying not to move.
"I would say a highly over ripe apple," Loki mentioned. Clint's eyes widened and he forced himself to swallow some bile as his stomach tried to reject what was inside of it. A trash can was suddenly at his feet and Clint quickly dropped the apple inside before stepping back. "And that it why a liquid is too complicated to work with."
"Yeah, fuck off," Clint grumbled, waving his hand in the air to get the remaining mental traces of the apple from his hand. Loki chuckled.
"Try again."
"You think you can win this time?" a voice echoed. Bucky frowned, looking around. "You didn't last time."
The landscape suddenly seemed very familiar. Wakanda. Bucky was in Wakanda. But, how? They hadn't talked to anyone about going to Wakanda.
"Buck!" Steve called. Bucky spun and watched in distress as Steve slowly grayed out and broke apart into something like tiny leaves and then to ash.
"NO!" Bucky roared, running toward the remains of Steve before he vanished and the ash landed on his legs.
"You will always fail." Now Bucky knew that voice. It was Thanos. He got to his feet and looked about. This wasn't what happened. Stevie didn't vanish. He had. "I am inevitable."
Bucky jerked up, gasping in horror.
"Buck! Bucky," a voice cried. Bucky jerked to the side, away from the voice. "Bucky, you're in Stark Tower. It's like... Midnight or something."
"Clint?" Bucky asked, the voice finally filtering through his tired and petrified mind. He turned and noted the archer was leaning close but not reaching out for him. Gasping, Bucky lunged forward, pulling Clint into a deep hug.
"It's okay. We're okay," Clint reported and quickly hugged the Sergeant back. Unable to speak, Bucky just held on. Shaking as the traces of the dream slipped away. Clint kept up his repeating soothing words, grounding him. It helped. But it wasn't who he needed to hear right now. Bucky needed to hear Steve. Needed to hear that his friend was still okay. Not SNAPed away.
"Ste... Stev-" Bucky stuttered.
"JARVIS, call Steve," Clint ordered as Bucky kept trying to say his friend's name. Distantly, Bucky heard something like ringing and Clint's voice drifting back into those soothing words. But he didn't snap out of any of it until he heard this.
"Agent Barton?" Bucky gasped out a relieved breathe.
"Steve, Bucky's having a panic attack," Clint announced.
"Jesus, Buck! It's okay! Everything's fine!" Steve basically shouted. Bucky huffed out a wet laugh as the panic started to fade. Steve kept calling out and Bucky knew the idiot would do it until he responded.
"Steve," he choked out, softly. At first he feared that Steve wouldn't hear it but super soldier hearing triumphed.
"Bucky," Steve sighed. Bucky nodded even though he knew Steve couldn't see him. But Clint shifted his grip and pulled the Sergeant into a deeper hug. Bucky couldn't help but shift his own, loosening up as he did so. "What happened?"
"Nightmare," Bucky replied, calming his racing heart.
"Figured," Steve and Clint stated at the same time. Bucky snorted at them, relaxing even more.
"About what, Buck?" Steve added.
"Thanos." There was a stiffening to Clint at the name and the phone line went silent. "I... I dreamed that Thanos won again. But... I wasn't the one who SNAPed."
"Steve?" Clint questioned. Bucky nodded.
"It's okay Buck. I'm here. Things are okay," Steve informed. Bucky darkly laughed at that for a moment. Clint pulled back, looking down at the man.
"Things won't be okay until he's gone," Bucky growled.
"We'll figure this all out. He won't win," Clint promised.
"Yeah. It'll be fine. Thanos doesn't stand a chance," Steve continued. Bucky nodded and released Clint, shifting away so that his knees were drawn up a bit and he could stick his head between them as he put his hands on the back of his head. Clint didn't fight. Instead he just began rubbing Bucky's back. The trio dropped into silence then. Unsure how to continue.
"You better?" Clint wondered after a minute or two. Bucky nodded. "Alright. Thanks, Steve."
"It's no problem. Actually... Do you think..." Steve began, pausing as he tried to straighten his thoughts. "Do you think I should move to the tower? That me being there might help?"
"Steve, it's just one nightmare. If you don't feel comfortable-" Bucky attempted to say as his head jerked up but stopped when Steve interrupted.
"Honestly, it's not that comfortable being here. Nothing is the same," Steve admitted. Clint snorted.
"You just needed another reason?" the archer teased. Steve didn't reply but both snipers could tell that the Captain had gone beat red. "I think it sounds like a good idea."
"Okay. I'll-" Steve called but was interrupted by JARVIS.
"I shall have movers meet you at ten o'clock," the AI informed. Clint laughed at that and even Bucky cracked a smile.
"Oh. Okay," Steve replied, shocked. "Guess I'll be moving in tomorrow."
"Today," Clint corrected. There was a pause that Clint and Bucky knew that meant Steve was looking for a clock. Bucky took that moment to look at their alarm clock. 1:18. The Sergeant winced.
"Oh. Yeah, okay. I'll be moving in later today," Steve stated. Bucky sighed.
"Thanks, Stevie."
"It's no problem, Buck. Trust me. I understand the feelings of nightmares." Clint nodded his head as well when Bucky looked to him. They all went quiet, the trio wondering what to say or do next. Then Steve sighed. "Listen. We should probably try to go back to sleep. Everything will be fine."
"Yeah. Yeah, okay," Bucky agreed. Clint smiled and the three traded their good nights before Steve hung up.
"You sure you're okay?" Clint inquired as soon as he knew Steve was disconnected. Bucky nodded. "Alright. You good to sleep or do you wanna go spar?"
"I... I wanna spar."
um... I just now realized I missed an entire week of posting... I have no idea what was on my mind and why that happened... I apologize.
In the meantime, Christmas is coming upon us and I'm debating how to celebrate it for all my readers. I have a few extra stories I could start posting but then I'd be posting three stories at the same time and I'm not sure I'd be able to handle that every Friday (due to quick editing before posting). But, I also don't have a one shot... Ugh. Difficult decisions.
Darius is doing good. Keeping the room clean is easier by simply threating to sweep everything up and put it in the trash. Course, I can't just leave it as a vocal threat. I actually have to get up and grab our broom and dustpan and wander the rooms, sweeping things up while waiting for him to collect them and put them back in their proper places. Can't go too fast cause he's recently gotten pretty particular with how certain toys sit. I don't care. As long as everything gets picked up. He's been having fun at school. Can't remember the names of his classmates for the life of him (or he's just fucking with me). Some days are better than others when it comes to typing and even more, some hours are better than others. But, I'm trying to equal things out.
So, hopefully I'll remember next week to post. If not, you can always review and yell at me, lol.