little fox

12

"Please?"

"no."

"Pleeeease!"

"GOD DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT. fine." I squeal in delight. coffee has always been a necessary piece of my day, but getting permission to have a fifth ice coffee is new. normally I steal it, or just don't ask. I giggle and give tony a hug because I'm a little bitch.

"now seriously, we need to introduce you to fury," he grumbles. while I had been asleep, we'd all assembled at the helicarrier. I think for a second.

"Why do you need to introduce me to a furry?" nat, peter, sam, bucky, Loki, and clint snicker.

"He's not a furry. don't call him that, unless you want to end up on the raft." I shrug.

"whatever, tiny stank." he turns bright red and starts yelling about why I knew about that.

"it's one of my many talents. now, don't you need to introduce me to a furry?"

"Excuse me, young lady. I can assure you, I am not a furry." I turn to see a bald, old-ish African American man with an eye patch and trench coat.

"Excuse me, mister furry. I can assure you, that I am not a young lady," I sass back. his eyebrows shoot up to his non-existent hairline.

"really? and how-"

"I'm genderfluid and non-binary, dipshit. my pronouns are they/them 80% of the time, 10% he-him, and the other 10 is she/her. today I am NON-BINANRY." peter bursts out laughing, recognizing the reference instantly.

"Wait. you're non-binanry? like, not even a little binanry? that's so fuckin cool, man," he wheezes, making me start laughing too.

"Well, you look like a girl." I stop laughing immediately and stare at him. sighing, I pull a hidden knife from my bra. he gives me a wtf look.

"Put down that knife right now-"

"no."

"my hellicarrier, my rules." I give him a 'bitch please' look.

"My knife, your life." everyone freezes. I hear a faint "o- okay," from bucky.

"who knew a mortal could be so intelligent." several of my mates turn to glare at Loki, who gives me that shit-eating grin. giggling, I skip over to him and sit on his lap.

"can you cut my hair down to shoulder-length, please?" he nods in understanding and quickly starts cutting it off, evenly and efficiently. when he's done, I kiss him gently.

"better. now, where were we? oh yeah. you're furry. I'm Rayn. can I live with my soulmates or not. if you say no, I'll annoy you until you say yes. and I can do it, I've had five iced coffees today." he rolls his eye.

"I was going to say yes anyway. however, before you leave, there's someone you need to meet." I eye him suspiciously. I nod and start following him as he leaves the room.

"So who is this person?" he glances at me, not slowing down.

"I understand you have another mate, correct?" I nod, and he continues. "I believe we have located them. but I can't tell you who, due to their terms for being here." I nod, not smelling any lies from him. he looks unsettled by this. "that's it? no snark. no bitching?" I glare.

"it's a perfectly reasonable request. the avengers looked through most intel SHIELD got from HYDRA. they would've recognized my name from the files and would've been full of pity. I would've hated every second of being around them because while they had good intentions, the assumptions they made would have hurt our relationship. everyone should get that same chance." his face softens.

"HYDRA, huh? what can you do?" not glancing at him, I let out my tail and ears again. the look on his face is priceless.

"and you're calling me furry?" I trip him with my tail.

"furry implies I had a choice, director. watch your tongue, or you might soon find you no longer have one," I snarl. he freezes, realizing just how deadly I can be, even on accident.

"fair point, ..." he raises an eyebrow.

"O'conner. my name's Rayn O'conner." he nods and continues walking. I follow him, and we eventually stop outside a different conference room. my last soul mark is buzzing.

"in here, kid. if you couldn't feel it." I roll my eyes and open the door, hiding my fur as I walk in and shut the door. inside is a tall black-haired man with a red cloak, his back facing me. feeling my entry into the room, he turns to face me. he smiles. he was wearing a blue tunic under the red cloak, and a gold amulet around his neck. his eyes were a light blue-gray, intelligent and kind. at his temples are stripes of white hair, and he had a light goatee. not usually my type, but hey, you learn something new every day.

"hi." I raise an eyebrow, unimpressed with possibly the most anti-climatic greeting ever.

"don't say too much all at once." he gapes in shock for a second before laughing.

"what, do you want me to start groveling at your feet?" I smile, loving the ability to talk with someone who has the same sense of sarcasm as I do.

"I wouldn't complain." again he laughs.

"I'm Stephen strange." my face shifts into shock.

"doctor Stephen strange? former neurosurgeon?" he flinches slightly at the recognition.

"Yeah. how do you..." I smile thinly.

"When I was younger, I got in an accident. my ankle had to be surgically put back in place. your assistant took care of it. I think her name was Christine...? I don't know, don't care either." he flinches at the slightly bitter note in my voice. 

"Oh but don't worry, HYDRA fixed that when they decided I was good experiment material, so now I'm a cripple turned furry. So take your hands out from behind your back, whatever's up with that, I don't care. if we're talking about hideous deformities or issues with our bodies, I'm pretty sure I win, strange." he looks skeptical. I sigh and let out y fur with a big floof sound. I give him a bored look as he gapes like a fish.

"Your turn, strange." he looks down, clearing his throat, making no move to show me his hands. I roll my eyes in annoyance. in a second, I'm in front of him. his eyes widen in shock.

"wha- how did you- that's not possible-" 

"HYDRA, bitch. gimme your hands." he steps back, but I grab his tunic. reaching behind his back, I pull his hands out.

his hands shake slightly, but I doubt it's from anxiety. nerve damage, I think. his fingers are crooked, with scars lining them. I run my fingers over them slightly, trying to figure out what could have caused this damage. my eyes flick up to Stephen's face, but he's not looking at me. I sigh.

"Stephen." he closes his eyes and swallows, not looking at me. "Stephen Strange, look at me please." he hesitates for a few seconds, but slowly looks back at me. I smile gently. "there we go.  now that I have your attention, can you please tell me why you were trying to hide this from me." he looks at the ground.

"I um. I thought that no one would want someone that they knew was a cripple or deformed like this." I raise an eyebrow.

"Even after I showed you what I was, and told you I'm a former cripple?" he says nothing. I chuckle. "do you notice how many times I've asked you about what happened?" he shakes his head. 

"that's because I'm not going to. I'm not going to make you talked about something you don't want to unless it's hurting you, Stephen." he looks at me in shock. I sigh, knowing the only solution for a situation like this is overbearing affection. 

"sit down on the couch, idiot." he does, and I sit down next to him. taking his hands, I lace his fingers through mine and kiss him gently. he stiffens in surprise but loosens up a few seconds later. he smells like old books and fresh rain. I love it. his lips are soft and gentle, yet firm. his goatee scrapes against my face slightly, making me laugh a little. a few minutes later, we separate. Stephen moves me onto his lap and places his head on mine. I lean into him, inhaling his scent and listening to his heartbeat, and playing with his fingers.