So I've missed Jackie and Henrik dearly, so here's another fic of them in highschool!
Jackie comes out to Henrik
Words: 1, 383
TW: Hurt Comfort — Themes of bullying / parental transphobia, panic attack, minor arguing
Summary: After one too many jeers, the jovial Jackie reaches his breaking point. Henrik seeks to help him find some control.
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"Jackie—"
"This is so stupid!"
Henrik barely caught the door as it slammed into him. He hurried inside just as Jackie threw off his rucksack and hurled it into a cubicle door so hard it sent a thunderous rattle across the entire row.
"Jackie, calm down—!"
"Why did I think that any of this would work?!" He tore at his shortened hair, almost intent on ripping it from his scalp as he stared into the stained mirror. "I look so stupid!"
"No you don't!" Henrik let his school bag hit the ground with a weighted thud, but Jackie's eyes darted in his direction and overflowed with tears.
"Did you see the way they all laughed at me?!" He sobbed, the sheer heartbreak in his voice sending a pang through Henrik's chest like a bullet. "I told the hairdresser what I wanted, I told her, but she just gave me what Mum wanted!"
Henrik parted his lips, hesitating. It was certainly nothing like the photo Jackie showed him yesterday — the simple undercut and combover a barber would have seen a thousand times.
He was ecstatic at the prospect of finally taking control of his appearance, in addition to his parents' expressed permission. Henrik had raised his eyebrow at that, yet quickly smiled and took another bite of his sandwich so as not to dampen the joy he so rarely saw on his friend's face.
Jackie held so much hope that afternoon — so much so that Henrik ached at the thought. Even after a life faced with nothing but criticism, the way he smiled that afternoon proved that he still earnestly hoped they would look at him with anything other than a frown.
So when he sat down in their first class, the accentuated fringe of a pixie cut evident even under his hood, a pit opened in Henrik's stomach.
While he was quick to notice, so were their classmates.
"It's just hair, I'm sure you can salvage it!" He suggested, but Jackie's eyes widened with a livid flare.
"It's not about the hair!" He exclaimed, only to slink backwards and sob, frantically wiping his palm across his eyes. "I thought— I actually thought that maybe– maybe I could come out, and they wouldn't hate me."
"You—"
"But they've figured it out already," he sniffed wetly and smeared his nose across his sleeve, "Dad's taking my bedroom door off when he gets home from work."
Henrik pressed his lips together, knowing his silence meant more in that moment than any advice could.
"And even after that, I still stupidly thought that maybe the teachers might do something!" Jackie swung out his arms, only to accidentally knock his knuckles into a hand dryer with an abrupt bang. He snatched it back and cried through his teeth, his face bright red in frustration and humiliation. "Rrgh! But you heard what they were saying, they all think I'm a freak!"
Henrik paused again, only parting his lips when Jackie continued to sob, finally backed into a corner between the tiled wall and the sinks. "You're not a freak," he said softly.
"I am!"
"I don't think you are."
"Well, then maybe you're stupid!" He snapped, clenching his eyes shut and gripping his sleeves as though hoping he would disappear. "Just leave me alone; you're not even supposed to be in here anyway!"
Henrik felt another pang pierce his chest. He wavered for a moment, picking idly at his fingernails before eventually drifting into the cubicle where Jackie's backpack lay abandoned.
Without a word, he carefully retrieved it from the floor and then gathered a generous wad of toilet paper in his hand. He spared a meagre glance toward the door but paid no mind to adhering to Jackie's request.
If he truly was as Jackie said, then he was a merry fool—
Jackie had sunken onto the vinyl floor, his head buried between his knees and his fingers clenched around the layers of hair like it was made of straw.
—and he could live with that so long as he could sit by his side.
"Maybe I am," he conceded as he slid down the wall, set his rucksack beside him, and offered the makeshift tissues, "I did wonder why this bathroom smelt significantly nicer."
Jackie exhaled at that and shrunk away, but moments later, his swollen and glassy eyes peered out from his knees. With a trembling hand, he slowly accepted the toilet paper to blow his nose, then sniffed again.
They sat in the quiet for a while, just like they had that day in the classroom, with Jackie sniffling and Henrik supplying him with a steady stream of tissues to sop up the tears.
When he removed his glasses to wipe his eyes, Henrik cleaned them on the hem of his shirt.
"I just wanted them to care..." Jackie murmured, and Henrik's gaze saddened.
"You should have told me that things had gotten bad," he noted softly, scratching gently at the dried tear stains.
Jackie swallowed thickly, his face flushed and sodden. "It's fine," he replied through another gulp, "they just– don't get it..."
"What does your sister think?"
"That I'm acting out..."
"Jackie..."
"You already have enough to deal with, I didn't wanna bother you, okay?" Jackie's tone sharpened briefly, only for him to snuff himself out with a sigh. "It's fine, I'll work something out..."
"Jackie, you're my best friend; you never bother me," Henrik handed his glasses back to him and watched him wipe at his face so as not to dirty them again. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like you have to hide this from me."
"You didn't..." Jackie glanced at him with eyes gleaming like the night sky, stray stars falling down his cheeks within wayward tears. "I'm sorry for taking it out on you..."
"Don't give it another thought, it's okay." He said. "I know you didn't mean it."
He nodded sorrowfully, slipping his glasses on his face. Henrik tilted his head and smiled solemnly, then observed how he irritably tried and failed to push his new fringe behind his ear. "I'm sure we can get your hair fixed."
"Just say it looks bad..." Jackie gave that rueful smile that Henrik feared would only appear more frequently.
"It looks absolutely terrible." He then reiterated, so bluntly, in fact, that Jackie couldn't help but snort. "It makes you look like my great aunt."
"Oh my god, shut up!" He laughed miserably through his sobs, clasping his hands over his face. "I hate you!"
Henrik chuckled as Jackie shoved at his arm, quickly straightening himself before he could topple over.
"But it's okay. I'm going to take you to my barber after school," he said, craning over to his rucksack to check his wallet. "I have some money saved up. She will fix your hair exactly like that picture."
"No, it's fine, don't waste your money," Jackie tried to insist, pushing his hair underneath his hood, "I'll just style it."
"She doesn't charge much," Henrik urged, "it won't take her long, either, so we could buy that green hair dye you were talking about."
"What?" Jackie blinked at him and his spirit. "No, no, my parents will hit the roof if I do that."
"They're going to anyway," he shrugged with external indifference, though internally, he felt the spite boil inside him, "we might as well shove it in their faces."
"But the other kids–"
"They already call us freaks, so we may as well look the way we want."
Jackie looked at him, and with a simple glance at his expression, he knew there was no use in arguing. He couldn't help but smile at it.
"Are you sure...?"
"I'm not having you go home to watch your dad take your own door away."
"I suppose it will give us a chance to find a topic for our science project..." Jackie finally concurred and leaned his shoulder against his. "Thank you."
Henrik rested his head on his hood. "We will be fine without an appointment, she takes walk-in clients," his reassuring smile then morphed into a wicked grin, "she might even take pity on you and do it for free."
"Henrik!"
He only cackled. "Then we could afford a pizza!"
"Oh my god, I'm gonna kill you!"
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OC CONTENT !!!!!
Them in order :
Arien (35) He/They - Unlabeled
Cruz (34) He/She/They - Gender Fluid + Pansexual
Lynette (36) She/Her - Lesbian + GreyAce
Wysteria (40) She/Her - Lesbian
Quinn (23) He/They - Bisexual + Trans FTM
Kaey (23) He/Him - Trans FTM + Gay (MLM)
Pluto (16) They/Them - Agender + AroAce
Henry (44) He/Him - CisHet
Additional Info!!
Quinn is Lynette and Wysteria's biological son
Lynette and Wysteria are married
Quinn and Kaey are dating
Cruz and Arien have something homoerotic going on and whatever that is is between them and whatever Deity is out there
Pluto is the unofficial adopted child of Cruz and Arien
Kaey is probably the only one here who's normal
Henry exists for lore reasons and against my will
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Let the games begin
this is an au of sorts that I have been working on with @burnt-pheonix for a while now. We call it Floor Club. Enjoy!
The hallway was dark, lit only by the small purple-flamed candles that lined the wall. From the faint light, barely visible paintings could be seen; though their contents were shrouded by darkness. A woman walked gracefully down the hallway, her figure mostly covered in shadow. Her eyes however were a bright, glowing violet that held distress in them. She walked down the hall, muscle memory directing her to the right room. A dark door that was partially ajar. Sighing gently, she pushed the door open and stood in the doorway.
“You know, if you want to keep your meetings secret, it would be wise to completely close the door. Who knows what kind of people could simply waltz in.” The woman smiled playfully.
Two heads turned in her direction. A man sitting at a large, circular table tutted. His eyes were nearly identical to the woman in the doorway, glowing brightly, serving as one of the only sources of light in the dark room. He placed a figure down on the chessboard in front of him. In the center of the board was a small model of a mansion. A few figures were placed in and around the house.
“Well I’m afraid I’ve been too busy to worry about the door.” He responded, annoyance lacing his words.
A giggle emits from another party in the room. A woman with dark blue eyes smirks. She is lounging in a rather luxurious armchair, skimming through an old book.
“Oh yes, little brother was sooo busy playing with his little toys~” the woman in the chair teases. The man at the table, who she referred to as her brother, was less than amused.
“They are not toys. They are models of real mortals. It helps me organize everything.”
The woman in the doorway had tuned out their bickering and walked closer to the man at the table.
“Speaking of the mortals,” she hesitated. “The doctor failed. It seems father’s ability to reform these creatures hasn’t been lost.”
The blue-eyed woman’s smile drops. She appears to be upset, perhaps even offended, by this remark. However, she responds merely with a scoff and
“Not surprising in the least.”
The man at the table finally smiled. He turned back to the woman who approached him, once again holding up the figure from the chessboard.
“Fear not, sister, I am always three steps ahead. I have an array of backups.”
He gestures to a bubble of what appeared to be purple light, emitting a soft, lavender glow. In it, were an assortment of figures who seemed to be… asleep. Floating inside the bubble. He then gestures to a small group of figures next to the chessboard. A prince, a soldier, a serpent, a man with an animal mask. And in a separate bubble, two monochrome figures. One of which seemed to glitch in the bubble.
The three siblings shared a sinister grin. The man took the prince and placed him at the doorstep of the mansion.
“Let the games begin~”
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