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why_is_gamora (why_is_gamora) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-10-10 15:45:00

Entry tags:

anthony j crowley, gamora (mcu)

Who: Gamora and Crowley
What: Nightmares
Where: Crowley’s house
When: Today

Gamora was still waiting for something awful to happen, like Thanos appearing and punishing her and Nebula for doing the wrong thing. At any moment he'd be there, standing over them, voice deceptively gentle and the pain that would come would be unthinkable. But things were wonderful, she'd played with Peter for hours and hours, her and Nebula had eaten some really weird great foods and she'd asked so nicely Crowley had put her to bed.

When she awoke in the night, blood running cold, it wasn't with a scream. The scream was trapped in her throat, sweat on her brow and her entire body shaking. In her dreams the ground ran red and in her ears the sound of the death of so many people. She was lost, sobbing for her mother but no sounds came out.

Beside her Nebula was asleep, the two sharing a double bed. Slowly and soundlessly she slipped out of the covers and walked to the door which stood ajar. Gamora slipped through and made her way to Crowley's bedroom, turning the handle and pushing it open. She didn't go in through, instead hiding behind the doorway, peaking inside.

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_crowley_
2019-10-10 04:27 pm UTC (link)

The thing about not really being human was that Crowley wasn't really one for sleep. Oh, sure, he did it sometimes because it was fun and he was lazy and took part in a good deal of hedonism because he was a demon and that just sort of suited his general personality and being.

But it also meant that he had a whole lot of time on his hands. Especially here in this place. Starklandia wasn't exactly a booming city and there weren't a lot of travel options. But he couldn't say that it wasn't interesting.

Aziraphale might have made note that he'd barely noticed the residents being smaller than normal, but Crowley knew it was nothing to do with haircuts. He realized this especially quickly when a little girl had taken to him like -- well. No child had ever really taken to him this way before, and he'd been a Nanny for a few years there, complete with excessive eyeshadow and all.

And that little girl -- curiously and endearingly green -- had more or less decided that she liked it here and had brought her sister to stay as well. Crowley wasn't sure what made him allow it other than the fact that he was both curious and a little charmed. And because for as much as he was a demon he didn't care to see small children in bad situations. Which is sounded like she was.

So she was sleeping down the hall. Or was meant to have been. He blinked up over the pages of his book when he heard the door open and rose an eyebrow over his sunglasses. "Have the accommodations offended?" he asked, even though he was well aware that was not the case.

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why_is_gamora
2019-10-10 05:41 pm UTC (link)

He didn't seem angry, although his voice was never particularly warm, Gamora had realised that was just his way and he liked that. Over familiarity and warmness left her a little thrown off, she certainly didn't want to be fed like the other children, lined up like cattle for the slaughter. Oh no, they were smarter than that. This was safer, because he didn't seem scared of Thanos, which was stupid or perhaps maybe brave. Gamora hoped it was brave.

At least he wasn't asleep and she hadn't disturbed him. Gamora got a little closer, standing in the doorway with her hair falling long down over her shoulder and her eyes still heavy with sleep.

"I had a dream," she said quietly before creeping closer to the foot of his bed. Gamora's eyes filled with tears and she tried desperately to blink them away, swallowing hard again and again. She wasn't weak! She was a warrior and she clenched her hands hard into little fists. A blow might come, an attack but even yet, she couldn't make the tears dry.

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_crowley_
2019-10-11 02:46 am UTC (link)

No, Crowley wasn't overly warm, not usually. Every once in a while it seeped in, because he couldn't help himself -- usually when Aziraphale was involved. But that didn't mean he was overly cold either. It just took a lot to get him worked up these days -- most everything felt small after the end of the world and the eleven year build up to it.

So a little girl waking up in the middle of the night with a nightmare? It pulled heartstrings he didn't think he had, but he wasn't going to melt over it, either. And he got the distinct impression that she wouldn't want that -- if she wanted overly sympathetic and overbearing, she'd be staying with the guy serving three regular meals a day for all the children. Or the mayor. But Gamora and her sister were both here instead. It wasn't a soft touch that either of them were looking for. Well. Maybe not a complete one. Crowley was a demon, but that didn't mean a monster who was going to ignore little kids crying.

"Did you?" He asked, putting his book down and scooting over in his bed enough to leave room at his side for just a little thing. She clearly wanted the invite and the company. "C'mere, then. You'd best tell me about it."

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why_is_gamora
2019-10-12 09:43 pm UTC (link)

If Gamora wanted strangely over eager and fake creepiness she could have got it elsewhere, instead of hiding in shadows when do gooders came rounding up children. Her Father was a cold man and anything too different would have made her nervous, but Crowley wasn't cold in the same way, not at all. In fact he invited her forward to tell him about her dream, instead of giving her a lecture on the spot.

Gamora hesitated, scared for a moment it was a trick or a trap before she scurried forward and onto the bed beside him. She hugged her knees to her chest, holding her own hands until the green of her knuckles was a little paler and then squeezing harder again. Like she could hold herself together, hold it all in and forget the sounds that rang in her ears. She rocked just a little bit, like the motion gave her some kind of comfort, settled the trauma inside of her.

"At night I hear screaming," Gamora told him quietly her eyes fixed ahead of them. "I'm lost and it's dark and they're so loud," she whispered softly. "I can't find my mamma and she's calling me and calling and-" Gamora clenched her jaw, nails cutting into her own hands. She was no fool, she knew that they were dead. They were all dead. So the universe could survive, for the good of everyone and balance. "I know it's supposed to be the right thing, Father says beings are a disease and he is the cure."

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_crowley_
2019-10-13 10:53 pm UTC (link)

No, Crowley wasn't really cold. If anything, he was just a bit awkwardly distant. Not in an uncaring way, but in a way that might have said he didn't often let himself be bothered with the affairs of others. He was, for the most part, fairly self centered. And humans had such short lives that it felt a waste to really bother himself with their specific issues all too often. That's why he had Aziraphale anyway. They suited and matched each other in a lot of different ways.

But every once in a while, Crowley tended to find someone he liked. Someone who felt worth the effort. And little Gamora, who was green and had red hair and sadness in her eyes even though she clearly didn't want it there? Oh, well. Crowley liked her. The effort was clearly being made -- even if he wasn't overly good at it.

He didn't touch, although he left his posture open and relaxed -- inviting and unthreatening. Gamora was careful with her own movements, about where she placed herself and why. "Well," he said after a beat. "I hate it. There's that. A bad dream." Only ever had she spoken of her father before, and Crowley had lived well long enough to know what that meant when the mother was concerned. "Your father is wrong, you know."

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why_is_gamora
2019-10-14 07:59 pm UTC (link)

She liked living here, much more than she liked home. Aziraphale was the funny sort, everything was so BIG with him and wordy and open. Crowley was the opposite but together they kind of seemed perfectly in balance. So she stayed and of course Nebula had to stay with her, she couldn't leave her alone. Even if she felt sure this was still a test and they'd be punished later, maybe it was worth it to get to play pretend just a little.

"I hate it too." The fact Thanos could be wrong hadn't really occurred to her. He was so big, so strong and no one could come up against him, especially not her, even if maybe she had tried once. "Wrong?" Gamora asked, instantly curious.

Crowley didn't seem scared of Thanos, which was something she'd never really experienced. People lived in fear, but not him. Gamora wished she too could be unafraid and she looked up at him with wide little eyes.

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_crowley_
2019-10-16 03:45 am UTC (link)

If Gamora liked Aziraphale now, she was going to be in for an absolute treat when he made a fool of himself and tried showing off his human sleight of hand magic skills, Crowley was sure. He loved the stupid tricks himself, but only because of how much he hated them, and how earnestly his Angel still tried to do them. It was a slippery slope.

"Wrong," The demon repeated firmly with a nod. "Just because someone who's strong says something and believes it, it doesn't make it right. It just means they're a bully." And because she was looking at him with such honest fear and confusion, Crowley decided he could do her the favor of being honest, too. He sat up a little straighter and took his sunglasses off to actually look her in the eye. "No one person gets to decide for everyone else what's best for them. Do you understand?"

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why_is_gamora
2019-10-17 12:24 am UTC (link)

No one ever told Thanos that he was wrong. She'd stood up to him once, but only once and even then he had placated her and she hadn't won. So to hear someone say it so boldly, so strongly, it took her breath away. Crowley looked into her eyes and Gamora paused as she thought about it, before she nodded slowly. Gamora had forgotten, she'd made herself forget so much because protesting was dangerous. Just like losing.

"So who decides then?" She asked in a small voice. Because Gamora felt so alone, there was no one here who was green, no one like her and she wanted so much to have the answers. "He says I am to be a great weapon, when I fight and I don't win he takes us apart. He upgrades, these bones are not my own," Gamora explained as she pointed to her arm.

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_crowley_
2019-10-17 12:36 am UTC (link)

Dissent did tend to be dangerous. Asking questions or disagreeing could be an offense that had lasting repercussions -- Crowley knew that very well, in fact. He'd been cast out for something that never should have been a problem in the first place. But maybe that was why he had strong opinions now, why he was somehow better with the concept of wrong or right than most others seemed to be. Because he could look at things objectively, and had long been disinterested in taking sides.

"The people decide," he said, not unkindly. "If you have a place where there are one hundred people and one of them decides the other ninety nine should die, do you think those other ninety nine shouldn't get a choice?" Perhaps that was putting it simply, but sometimes a simple explanation was the best thing for the job.

He brushed his thumb across the arm was was holding out in example, his lips a thin line of displeasure. This Thanos person deserved what would be coming to him if he ever ended up here. "That won't happen again," he told her very seriously. "I won't let it."

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why_is_gamora
2019-10-26 05:54 pm UTC (link)

He was so calm and Gamora just couldn't help but trust him. Because he was right, who was her Father to decide for the world what was best for everyone? What was best for her and her sister? Even if he had, he had decided for them but maybe that didn't make it right.

Gamora had a good sense for people with power and when Crowley told her that it wouldn't happen again, that he wouldn't hurt her. Gamora believed him. She was tired now, the adrenaline had faded from her nightmare and she yawned, leaning slowly in to rest against him.

Because there was something about him that reminded her not of her Father, but of her dad and as she closed her eyes, it was wonderful.

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