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Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Lucius: You can have mine, if you want. I must've used it all of about twice. But that's not the point right now!

-He throws his hands up into the air as if doing so will help make his point clearer.-

Lucius: Look, I'm hardly one to complain about getting rough with perps. I've done it myself more times than I care to count. Got a nasty lecture because of it, too, which I'll spare you from because unlike certain other superheroes I don't take pride in belittling my colleagues. But you're taking the whole "shadowy vigilante" act too far. If somebody gets wind of us sticking knives in people's faces, suddenly we become the villains in their eyes. And part of the reason I started this group was so that we wouldn't end up resorting to violent extremes. So I want you to save that dagger for the kind of scum that really deserves it in future, okay?

127

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe leans back against the couch, frowning-

Crewe: Well, y'know, I wasn't actually gonna use it. But I ran into that Eelektrik in the vents, and when I asked him what his dude's plans were, he said something about how he's not afraid of heroes because they're never gonna actually go through with their threats. And obviously I'm not gonna kill anybody, but if we don't scare the bad guys, how are we gonna get anything done?

128

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Lucius folds his arms.-

Lucius: Properly, that's how. If we put every criminal we face behind bars without ever having to stoop to their level to do so, then we earn the kind of reputation that could never be achieved through fear. Fear's a powerful weapon, sure, but then so's that dagger of yours. Both need to be used carefully.

129

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe turns the dagger over in her hands and runs a finger over the engraving-

Crewe: ... Yeah, okay.

130

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Lucius: That's what I was hoping to hear. With any luck, I won't have to chew you out like that again.

-He smiles.-

Lucius: On the plus side, you're actually listening to your boss for once. That's got to be a first.

131

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe rolls her eyes, smiling slightly-

Crewe: Right. So, continuing in the vein of listening to my "boss", next time I leave you to die, right?

132

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Lucius gives an exasperated sigh.-

Lucius: Are you ever going to let that go?

133

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe snickers and eats a spoonful of ice cream, grinning-

Crewe: Nope!

134

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Lucius: And people call me stubborn...

-He rolls his eyes and hauls himself back onto the sofa.-

Lucius: Well, I'm gonna catch myself some z's now. You go do whatever it is you do when I'm not around to supervise.

135

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe hops up on the couch beside him-

Crewe: Meh. I'm kinda tired too, really.

136

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Lucius closes one eye, but keeps the other open to focus on Crewe.-

Lucius: ...You have your own bed, don't you?

137

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe shrugs-

Crewe: Chirp has scrap metal and wires and stuff all over it. He's trying to fix my suit. Besides, you have a bed too, don't you?

-she stretches out on the couch and drops her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes-

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Rasp Cavern

Lucius: Touche.

-He elects not to protest further and instead simply closes his remaining eye, drifting off to sleep within moments.-

139

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe also falls asleep quickly, settling in against him-

140

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-After several hours of relatively restful sleep, Lucius suddenly bolts awake with a start and a strangled yell, breathing heavily.-

141

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe was sleeping well up until Lucius suddenly launches her off the couch-

-she wakes with a start and scrambles up off the ground, patting her hips as she searches for her knife instinctually-

Crewe: What is it?! What happened?!

142

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Lucius goes slightly pale upon seeing Crewe, but manages to force himself to relax, slowing his breathing back to normal.-

Lucius: ...Nothing. It's nothing. Nothing happened. I just... overreacted, that's all. You can go back to sleep.

143

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe calms down as she slowly realizes that there is nothing attacking the cave-

Crewe: Oh. Okay. Um. Right.

-she pauses-

Crewe: Wait... you had a nightmare, didn't you? Sorry. I'm, uh... not used to that happening to other people.

144

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Lucius frowns slightly, still pale, but gives an affirmative nod nonetheless.-

Lucius: ...Yeah, I had a nightmare. They're not nearly as bad as they used to be, but I still get the same recurring dream every couple of weeks or so. It's a damn pain, though I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that.

145

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

-Crewe shudders-

Crewe: No kidding. My subconscious just loves coming up with a new spin and the same stuff to torment me. It helps when I'm sleeping with someone, but that doesn't exactly happen very often.

-she climbs back onto the couch and curls up next to him-

Crewe: Would waffles and cartoons help?

146

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Lucius: That always seem to be the case. Names and faces come and go, but the dream itself rarely changes. And I don't have anybody to sleep with anymore. Not since...

-He trails off as Crewe returns to her position on the sofa.-

Lucius: ...Yeah. Yeah, I think they would.

147

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Crewe: Unfortunately, I don't have any more souls of my firstborn child to trade to Maul, so waffles might actually require effort to retrieve. Cartoons should be easy, though.

148

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Lucius: Do you think he'd accept second children?

Maul: ~No.~

Lucius: Ah well. Worth a shot.

149

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Crewe: I doubt I'm even gonna have one kid. I guess it was too much to hope to pull that one over on him again.

-she yawns-

Crewe: Just how much do we need the healing properties of waffles?

150

Re: The (Non-canon) Adventures of Shieldmaiden and the Auric Avenger

Rasp Cavern

Lucius: Hmm... on the one hand, waffles are their own reward. On the other hand, I'm still half-asleep and getting off of this sofa seems like far more effort than it's worth. We appear to be facing a dilemma.