Marvelous Martial Arts (A Marvel Story)

”And you truly did not find anything in Antarctica? Not even a Thing, or a great ice wall?”

Mason laughed, faking hesitation for Minx, ”Ah, you know, even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. New World Order and stuff.”

Minx grinned, in an excellent mood today as she added, ”I can’t believe you killed a demon. And that these bastards never answered to my summons! I even offered you as a sacrifice!”

”They were probably scared of me already.” This did make Mason think about it. He was 99% sure that Minx could never have summoned a demon, but considering the abilities of demons, had she been able to do so, would they have felt his soul inside Mason’s body?

Most demons were not as powerful as Krahllak, who was the lord of his own dimension. Maybe that he had unknowingly scared demons even when he did not have control over this body.

Finding the thought amusing, Mason unconsciously lowered his gaze from Minx’s face, and not for the first time today.

Minx clearly saw it, and finally said something, grabbing Mason’s chin and lifting it as she grumbled, ”You certainly grew bolder. But eyes up here, cowboy.”

Mason looked into her eyes, and he did not see annoyance. Not quite shyness either, though. If anything, she almost looked… daring? Smiling, he said, ”How vulgar, woman. Clearly, I was drawn to your necklace.”

Minx looked down at her own cleavage, and exclaimed as she grabbed the silver ankh necklace, ”Oh, this?”

Mason nodded, finding it hard to look away from it, even without the incentive of Minx’s cleavage. He had already extended his Divine Sense to it several times because of how strange it felt, but he got nothing. No matter what sense he used, this appeared to be an ordinary necklace. And yet, something at the back of Mason’s mind told him this was anything but normal.

”Where did you get it?”

Minx fondly played with the ankh, replying, ”It was a gift from a customer. She was nice.”

Mason gestured at the necklace, and Minx passed it over with a smile, leaning towards Mason as it was still attached to her neck. Mason’s enhanced senses were drawn in to her scent, which was strangely nice, but he forced himself to focus on the ankh.

And yet again, even while fiddling with it, Mason did not feel anything wrong with it. That did not lower his vigilance, however, as he also understood his senses were not infallible. There had been plenty of artefacts within Kamar-Taj that felt like ordinary items, despite him knowing they were powerful. The same went for technology, as when he scanned Doom, he only felt the man and his magical power, not the power of the armor he wore.

If Mason were to scan Iron Man, he was pretty sure he would only feel the ordinary Tony beneath.

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But while Mason himself was not an expert appraiser, he happened to know some Sorcerers. As he was about to suggest a visit to 177A Bleecker Street, he found Minx to suddenly grab his chin again, lifting it.

Mason stared into her deep black eyes as her lips met his. He stilled for a moment from sheer surprise, before reciprocating.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds before the two separated, and Mason let out a dry chuckle. ”That came out of nowhere. Liked it. Loved it. Banger performance, really.”

Minx rolled her eyes. ”Oh, shut up.”

Mason grinned and took the initiative this time, diving in for a second one.

The two made out for a while, and only when they were done did Mason get to ask, ”So, where is this coming from?”

Minx snuggled against him, reading the lines in his palm as she replied, ”Where else? I had enough of us circling each other. And who asked you to get in my face like that?”

Mason smiled. He had to admit that he had his own reservations. He had known Minx her whole life, all the way back when she was a child, and it was that barrier that always made him hesitant.

He liked Minx. Not just because of the feelings the old Mason had shared with him, he truly liked her for who she was. That did not stop him from feeling strange about their situation, though. He knew it was nothing close to grooming, but it was still strange to have feelings for someone you had seen grow up.

Mason had inherited eighteen years of memories of Minx growing up, even if those memories had never belonged to him in the first place.

That was why Mason had been ‘circling’ around her. Neither of them had hidden their attraction for the other, but they each had their reservations.

But at the same time, Mason knew it was not fair to just keep her waiting, to neither make a move nor distance himself, trapping her in this dating limbo. In the end, she had been forced to be the one to make the first move, which Mason was not particularly proud of.

Thinking of this, he held her a little closer, kissing the top of her head.

She smiled, brushing his arm as she said, ”It wasn’t out of nowhere, you know.”

”What?”

She leaned her head back, looking up at him. ”This. You said this came out of nowhere. It didn’t. I just… fuck, I feel stupid.”

Mason smiled, giving her a little peck as he reassured her, ”Then we make a good pair.”

Minx snorted before slowly opening up, ”I don’t even know why I’m hesitating, I already told you before. But you’re intimidating Mason. You give the feeling that I can’t stand next to you.”

Her clutch on his hand tightened, and she added, ”I already knew I was being stupid. We already talked about this. But I think I’ve finally come to terms with it. I’m not going to say I’ve liked you since we were kids, because that would be a lie, but I did start liking you before you started throwing hands with giants.”

Mason supposed that should have offended someone else, but in his precise case, Minx clearly had only started liking him after he took over. Before that, it had not truly been him, so it was more validating than anything that she had not liked the old Mason.

She continued, ”So I decided to say fuck it. I like you, not Solis, not the Honored One. I like Mason Tunt, and I know I don’t have some kind of accountability for that, because you like me too.” She looked up again, equal parts teasing and vulnerable. ”You do like me, right?”

Mason thought for a moment before replying, ”I’m not going to say I’ve liked you since we were kids, because that would be a lie, but I did start liking you before you started inking people.”

She immediately laughed, ”That’s so corny!”

Mason accepted it, and added more seriously, ”I was a bit of a coward too. Truth is, I have liked you for a while. Longer than you have, I think. But it wasn’t a feeling of unworthiness that kept me. I think… There was some guilt, in a strange way.” It was not a lie either. It was true that Mason felt reservations about his condition, but it was only part of the reason why he had never tried to push things to the next level.

He had the opportunity, but for some reason that eluded even him, he had been content with keeping the status quo.

Minx sighed, leaning against his chest, ”Feelings are weird.”

”That they are,” Mason whispered with a sigh, before choosing to return to the earlier subject, ”by the way, that ankh necklace feels so weird to me; we should get it checked out. I got a friend who could take a look at it for us. Would you be interested in meeting wizards?”