Fanfic Buddies

Kamala never expected that her new Avengers fanfic would gain this much attention. One night had passed and it had got about twenty comments. By the time she had come home from school it went up to about a hundred.  All of the comments were positive; the readers loved her story about The Avengers defending a unicorn planet against space monsters. She felt proud.

Kamala scrolled down through the comment section and replied to each one. Some of them were from her followers, others from people she did not know. She kept on answering until she stopped at one.

PaganMilkshakes: Awesome job on this! You really got Thor's character down, that's exactly how he acts.The Unicorns were a nice touch too. I can't wait to read more!

PaganMilkshakes. This user wasn't a popular one, but she had heard of him or her before. She wasn't quite sure from where; she had not seen him or her in the Avengers circles on the website. Kamala answered with a thank you and moved on.

A few days had passed. Kamala logged on to find that some of her older fanfics had new comments. They all came from PaganMilkshakes.

PaganMilkshakes: Lol I can't stop laughing! Pokemon Avengers are the best!

PaganMilkshakes: I was so surprised by the twist at the end. You got me!

PaganMilkshakes: I like the idea of The Hulk collecting glass animal figurines. It brings out his sweet side.

PaganMilkshakes had also followed her.

Kamala replied:

AvengersStrike98: Thanks for all the nice comments and the follow!

She clicked on the user's profile. It turned out that PaganMilkshakes was a guy, his age eighteen. He wrote Game of Thrones fanfiction; the most popular was a series called A Dragon Mystery.

She kept on scrolling through until she saw a title that looked familiar:

You Are The Shield To My Heart

And then Kamala remembered. That was the guy who wrote the Phil Coulson and Captain America slashfic that upset everyone. She hadn't read it but knew followers who did. She decided to take a look.

The writing was very flowery. Some parts were so corny that it made her laugh.  But she enjoyed it. Even though she did not ship any of The Avengers, Kamala liked this one.

She left a comment:

AvengersStrike98: I don't pair any of the superheroes together but you did a good job with this one.

He responded.

PaganMilkshakes: Thanks! I appreciate it!

That was the start of their friendship.

Kamala looked forward to talking to PaganMilkshakes each time she logged on. They read each other's fanfics and bonded over The Avengers.

AvengersStrike98: Who's your favorite? Mine's Captain America, Ironman, and Ms. Marvel.

PaganMilkshakes: Thor's my favorite hands down. Ironman is pretty cool too.

They talked about other fandoms as well. But little by little, their conversations became more about themselves.

PaganMilkshakes: Hey! How are you?

AvengersStrike98: Not great. My brother's annoying.

PaganMilkshakes: I feel your pain. I have an older brother; he bosses me around a lot.

AvengersStrike98: Fellow younger sibling! My brother isn't that bossy, he's just very self centered. It drives me and my folks crazy.

PaganMilkshakes: I'm on the opposite end. I'm the one who drives everyone crazy.

AvengersStrike98: Lol
********************************************************
AvengersStrike98: Have to go. I'm hungry.

PaganMilkshakes: Don't say that you'll make me hungry! Even though I already ate.

AvengersStrike98: What cha have?

PaganMilkshakes: Bacon. Bacon is the best.

AvengersStrike98: I've never had bacon. But it smells so good

PaganMilkshakes: No?

AvengersStrike98: I keep kosher.

PaganMilkshakes: Awwwwww
**************************************************
AvengersStrike98: God the weather sucks! It's been raining all day!

PaganMilkshakes: It's been raining where I am too. I live in NYC.

AvengersStrike98: I LIVE IN JERSEY CITY!

PaganMilkshakes: Jersey City?

PaganMilkshakes: OMIGODS WE LIVE ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES AWAY FROM EACH OTHER!

AvengersStrike98: I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!

PaganMilkshakes: ME NEITHER!
***************************************************************
They talked every day. Kamala found the relationship to be just as meaningful as her real life friendships. She wished that there could be a way to meet with PM in person, but she knew her parents would never allow it.

Many months had passed. It was now September. Kamala had gotten tickets to New York Comic Con for her birthday. She was excited; it was the first convention she would attend.

She wrote a post on her journal:

AvengersStrike98: I'm going to New York Comic Con!!!! Best birthday present ever!

PaganMilkshakes was the first to comment:

PaganMilkshakes: I'm going too! Maybe we'll see each other!

AvengersStrike98: We should meet up!

PaganMilkshakes: Yeah! I'll post a pic on my profile so you'll recognize me.

AvengersStrike98: I'll do the same!

PaganMilkshakes: I can't wait to meet you! XD

AvengersStrike98: Me too! It's gonna be awesome!

The weekend of Comic Con had arrived. Kamala had woken up early Saturday morning so she could arrive at around nine. She didn't wear cosplay that day; she would the next. She wished that she could skip school to go on Friday, but of course, she had to stay at school. She knew PaganMilkshakes went all four days. She figured that college was more relaxed than high school.

She walked around The Javits Center, taking pictures of cosplayers, looking at the exhibitions, and the merchandise in artist alley. She went back to the main floor when she heard:

"AvengersStrike98!"

Kamala turned. There stood the boy she had communicated with for the past nine months. He was tall with dark black hair and green eyes. He wore a fancy green coat and a horned crown. Kamala grinned.

"Hey!"

PaganMilkshakes walked up to her and they hugged. Kamala took a step back and looked at him.

"Awesome cosplay."

"Thanks. It's not really cosplay though, I wear it all the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "Enjoying the con?"

"I am! It's my first con and I'm having a blast!"

"It's my third," he said. "I went to San Diego Comic Con and Anime Boston."

"Wow!"

"I still can't get over it though. Cons are magical."

There was a pause.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "I'm going to the superhero panel."

"I'll come. I might go to the Game of Thrones one later."

"We can get lunch."

"Absolutely! I know a good place around here."

They began to walk to the escalators.

"I totally forgot about real life stuff," Kamala said. "My name's Kamala."

"Pleasure to officially meet you," PaganMilkshakes smiled. "I'm Loki."

Kamala laughed.

"Good joke."

"My name's actually Loki."

"Are you trying to play with me or something?" She asked.

"No really. I am Loki," he said.

Kamala stopped and thought for a second.

"Either your parents really like superheroes. Or they really like Norse mythology," she reasoned.

"It's a bit of both actually," Loki told her.

"You're cool," Kamala smiled.

"You too," Loki smiled back.

They went up the escalator.