Marvel Disassembler

Arthur felt as if he had been asleep forever. 

Two interstellar teleportations had nearly drained him of all his energy, both physical and mental. 

The deep exhaustion allowed him to sleep soundly, even dreaming of a steaming bowl of delicious lamb stew with soaked flatbread. 

In his dream, he ate the meal eagerly, but when he reached the middle of it, he awoke. 

Still dazed, he smacked his lips and muttered to himself, "Even in hell, I wasn't this exhausted. The energy loss is too much... but if it means avoiding blind dates in Hell, it's worth it." 

The experiment was a success. From now on, even if he went to Asgard for official business, he could sneak away unnoticed when leaving. 

Satisfied, Arthur nodded to himself. However, the empty, weakened state of his body left him feeling helpless. 

He sniffed the air and frowned. "Wait... I'm so hungry I think I can actually smell lamb stew!" 

Rolling off the bed, he changed into a fresh set of clothes and opened the door, planning to go out and scrounge for food. If worst came to worst, he'd crash a meal at Tony's place. 

The moment he opened the door, however, an enticing aroma hit his nose. 

"What the..." 

Arthur blinked and looked into the living room, where a bowl of lamb stew sat next to a plate of cold noodles and a meat roll. He was stunned. 

"Lily!!!" 

"What are you yelling about?" 

A girl wearing cartoon pajamas came out of the bathroom, brushing her teeth as she walked out. 

"It's late. You're back, so what? No need to yell." 

Arthur stared at her. 

"You're home?" 

"Didn't you notice the door was locked from the inside? And the lights are on... When did you get back?" 

Lily gave him a sideways glance. 

"Every time you go on a trip, you disappear without a word, and when you come back, you sneak in like a thief. I have to wonder, what exactly does Stark Industries hire you to do? Dangerous stuff?" 

"... No, no." 

Arthur's mind raced as he pieced together the situation from her words. 

First, Lily had no idea that he'd slept in the house. She hadn't even noticed him since he'd teleported in. 

Then he remembered the texts she'd sent him that he'd skimmed on his phone. 

He quickly improvised an answer. 

"I thought the house was broken into! Turns out it's just you." 

He immediately regretted his words and wanted to slap himself. With Lily's temper, wasn't this going to set her off? 

Before he could backtrack, Lily rolled her eyes at him. 

"Have you eaten?" 

"Yes-" 

Before he could finish his sentance, his stomach growled audibly. 

Arthur blinked and forced a laugh. 

"I ate earlier... but now I'm hungry again." 

"Perfect timing," Lily said nonchalantly. 

"I suddenly had a craving for meatballs and lamb stew earlier. Impulsively, I made some. But thinking about my figure, I decided I wasn't going to eat them. I was going to throw them out, but now you can have them." 

"Really?" Arthur found the excuse a bit flimsy. 

"Of course it's true!" 

Lily glared at him as she spoke. 

"Stop yapping. Eat. And clean the dishes when you're done." 

With that, she dashed back to the bathroom to rinse out her toothpaste foam. 

"Fine, I'll eat… who's scared of who…" 

Arthur grumbled as he sat down at the table. 

"She's bossy as ever..." 

The tantalizing smell of the food was irresistible. He grabbed the meat roll and took a big bite. 

The lamb stew smelled incredible, and the spicy chili oil on the cold noodles was delicious. 

"Your cooking is getting better and better. By the way, Lily..." Arthur called toward the bathroom as he continued to eat. 

"Do you spend all your time at school thinking about food? Do you even have time for art projects?" 

"Shut up and eat!" She yelled back. 

Lily's angry voice echoed from the bathroom: 

"I'm pursuing education, do you understand? One day I'm going to be a free-spirited artist, a painter, and I'm going to travel the world to capture breathtaking landscapes, breathtaking beauties, and handsome men. Then I'll sell my paintings for money. Hmph! If you keep talking like that, I won't take you on my adventures when the time comes. 

"Then I'll take you into space and let you paint..." 

Arthur stopped abruptly in mid-sentence, instantly regretting his words. How could he let that slip out? He wanted to slap himself again. 

"Space? Now you're just bragging." 

Lily poked her head out of the bathroom and glared at him. 

"Focus on working hard and making money. If you can finance a trip around the world for us, that's already impressive. What, is the earth not big enough for you? You want to show off in space now? Unless you become a shareholder in Stark Industries, how can you even think about space? Besides, even Stark Industries doesn't have spaceships that can leave the planet, right?" 

"Right, right." 

Arthur nodded quickly, grateful that Lily had unintentionally smoothed over his slip-up. Even if it was framed as him bluffing, it was better than her taking him seriously. 

Frankly, he didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to tell Lily the truth about his life. 

The last time he had narrowly avoided exposing himself, it had been sheer luck. But given how careless his tongue was, it was only a matter of time before he slipped up completely. Deciding to keep quiet, he turned his attention back to eating. 

"Hmph!" 

Lily huffed and slammed the bathroom door. Arthur, puzzled by her reaction, casually summoned the Eye of Horus to peek in. 

"What are you huffing about?" 

He immediately regretted it when he saw Lily beginning to undress for her shower. He quickly dismissed the Eye of Horus. This wasn't something he was supposed to see. 

"Just sniffing. None of your business," Her voice came from the bathroom. 

Arthur shrugged. What else could he say? He knew from experience that trying to reason with a woman in such moments was a guaranteed loss. 

After devouring everything on the table, Arthur leaned back in satisfaction only to have Lily emerge from the bathroom and glance at his empty bowls. She muttered, "There's more in the kitchen. I'm going to bed. Oh, and by the way, I'm going back to school tomorrow." 

"Huh? So soon? I just got back." 

Arthur froze, a hint of disappointment creeping into his voice. 

"And whose fault is that? I had seven days off and spent six of them alone at home!" 

Lily gave him a sharp look and pout. 

"You never visit me at school during the semester, always busy, busy, busy... and now you complain that I'm leaving too soon." 

"I've been busy..." Arthur scratched his head uncomfortably. 

"That's all right. A man should put his career first." 

Lily took a small step closer to Arthur, straightening his shirt as she looked at him. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to act like that. You've got this, okay?" 

Arthur blinked, feeling that there was something deep and indescribable in her look... something much deeper than usual. 

'(End of Chapter)' 

You can read ahead up to 70 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/GGS6395