#like. i am perfectly fine imagining romance with silly little fictional characters but?

[mouseship]

wtf wtf questioning whether I'm aroace or not I am having a crisis girl 💔💔💔

[jovialyouthmusic]

The Many Lives of Drake Walker

A Royal Romance multiple AU fanfic

2 Housekeeping 

In which I explore the virtual world that Drake and his aquaintences inhabit - first hand...

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2 Housekeeping 

I looked around myself, wondering where on earth I was – or was this Earth at all?  What was it – a dream, my imagination playing tricks on me, some sort of virtual construct like the Matrix? No matter what it was, I was there, I felt perfectly normal apart from a little nausea. And what was more, the man standing next to me felt real  - very real. I looked down at myself – I was vey much me, just slimmer and younger and wearing my current favourite outfit – black skinny jeans with a striped top and fitted jacket.

We stood in a bright space, like a big waiting room with lots of doors leading off to every side. There was a desk where a receptionist had her head bowed down, and there were seats all around – sofas and easy chairs, and other people walked around chatting or looking at what looked like smartphones or hand terminals. It was all rather like science fiction. Drake grinned at me.

‘Impressive’

‘What?’

‘This place – you made it the way you expected it to be. I’ve met others who had oak panelled libraries or hospital waiting rooms. I like this one, it’s bright and airy. You’re also your best idea of yourself – you don’t look much different from what I saw before, so you must be pretty self confident’

‘I - you’re welcome I suppose’

‘Okay, we need to get you checked in, make everything official in case you need to be found in an emergency’

‘Like what?’

‘Well obviously if your partner woke and found you sitting sleeping in front of the laptop and couldn’t wake you he might freak out, so we’d send you back straight away’ He started toward the reception desk, and on the way I saw a familiar figure.

‘Hold on – is that…’ I started, and the tall neatly bearded man clapped Drake on the shoulder

‘Walker, you found another one – I hope you’ve explained everything to her. Good afternoon…’ he stopped ‘or is it morning? It doesn’t matter, welcome to our world – which you had a hand in making’

‘Th - thankyou – Bastien?’ I stammered, shaking the hand he offered me, slightly overawed.

‘In the flesh’ he smiled ‘I hope you enjoy your time with us’ He walked away and I turned to Drake, mouth open.

‘Is there – will I meet all the others?’

‘If they’re around, yes. I’ll introduce you to a few after we get you signed in’ We went up to the desk and the blonde woman looked up, unimpressed by my appearance.

‘Name?’ she intoned, totally deadpan and uninterested

‘Hi Maddy, this is Lesley – she wrote the latest one I’ve been in’

‘Oh yes? Fantastic’ she said sarcastically. She looked at me and slapped a piece of paper on the counter ‘Fill this in. It won’t take long.’ I looked at her critically.

‘Are you – are you Madeleine? From Fydelia?’ the blond woman rolled her eyes.

‘Yes, what of it?’

‘Well I – I suppose I’m surprised’

‘Well Lesley, if folk were more sympathetic when they wrote about me, maybe I’d give a damn. Just fill the form in’ She handed me a pen, and Drake led me away to a table, hand on my elbow

‘Don’t mind her, she’d be a whole different person if…’ he sighed ‘she’s just neglected, made out to be the bad guy, you know’ I smiled sympathetically and filled the form in – it was simple, just name, date of birth, my nom de plume and username, address and next of kin. There was also a section naming the stories I’d written. Drake looked over my shoulder.

‘Don’t worry too much about that, just the name of the series will do, we can find you with your username. I really enjoyed ‘Two’s Company’, and ‘Charlotte’s Choice’ is fun – that’s partly why I chose you.’ I finished and we took the paper back to Madeleine.

‘So, is there anyone you’d like to meet? This visit will just be a little housekeeping, we can go on an adventure next time.’ he said. I smiled, excited

‘Well I hit the jackpot with you – but Liam perhaps, and – well everyone from the Royal Romance I suppose.’

‘Sure thing, if I can find them, but be prepared for a couple of surprises with Liam’

‘Oh yes – what do you mean?’ Drake leaned close to me and kept his voice low ‘Well for a start there’s more than one of him – y’know, he can be three different races to start with – and some writers give him a different name. Sometimes he kind of flickers from one race to another when he’s not in a story, it can be a bit freaky. Plus there are a lot of different face claims for him’

‘Oooh that must be confusing’ I exclaimed.  Drake shrugged

‘Kind of, but he’s always recognisable – that regal posture you know, even when he’s been written in as a gangster, it’s still there.’ He looked down at his hands ‘I – I have some difficulties too, thanks to the fandom.’ I put my hand reassuringly on his shoulder

‘I’m sorry to hear that. What exactly do you mean?’ He sighed, and as he did, someone came up to greet us. I looked up and my mouth opened in astonishment.

‘Hey brother, you got another friend? Maybe I can play with her some time’ Drake grimaced

‘Maybe, maybe not, it depends on what fic she chooses.’ I looked from one to the other of the two men. They were both Drake, but one - the one who had brought me there - looked just like the drawings from the game, albeit more real, and the other was the spitting image of Ben Barnes. To have two versions of my fictional lover was pretty mind blowing and I was glad I was sitting down, otherwise my legs would not have held me up.

‘Oh Lord.’ I exclaimed ‘There must be a Daniel di Tomasso about somewhere’. The Ben clone grinned.

‘Bingo. Though if you take Drakey here to a story where the writer uses me as a faceclaim, he’ll change.’ I gasped

‘Oh, that’s – unusual. Does it hurt?’

‘Nah, but it feels pretty weird’ Ben/Drake replied. ‘My’ Drake  spoke up again

‘Don’t you have somewhere to be? Les here is my companion’ I felt a little flutter in my stomach at his possessiveness, plus that term was…

‘Companion? That sounds remarkably like…’ I said, but he suddenly put his hand up, and the Ben clone winced.

‘Stop! Don’t say it! It’s bad form to name another fandom, plus it messes things up, makes everyone feel sick for a bit. Maybe I shouldn’t use that term, but it’s the best one I’ve come across’ He turned to Ben/Drake and made a dismissive nod.

‘Fine.’ the other man said ‘She’s your date. Anyhow, you should try the writer I’m with – non stop sex, I can hardly keep up’ He smirked, and reached up to tousle his hair. With a wave, he strode off to one of the doors, a swagger in his walk. Drake leaned across to me

‘He shouldn’t count his chickens – I’ve heard a rumour he’s being – well, for want of a better word – terminated’

‘Terminated? You mean…?’ He drew his hand across his throat

‘Yup. Loads of angst to come there, but he gets to hang around as a ghost for a while. It’s not as bad as it sounds, he’ll be back to normal in the next fic he’s assigned’ He reached across the table to me, taking my hand. There was an odd little jolt, an electric shock, and he smiled as I jumped slightly ‘That’s a good sign, we have a connection. Is there anything you want to ask?’

‘Are there other companions? How often will we meet up? How do we choose…’ He put his hand up again.

‘Woah, slow down Les, that’s a whole lot of questions. Yes there are other companions, mainly following my character and Liam’s, and in this particular place, as you’ve only ever written about our story, there’s no crossover with any others – and again, don’t mention them, things get weird.’ He paused ‘How often we meet is up to you – was this time good for you?’ I nodded ‘I’ll be there waiting, just minimise the screen and I’ll find you. The choosing – that’s more complicated, what we’ll do is go over some of the original stories, get acquainted – after all there is some pretty steamy stuff out there’ I gulped nervously.

‘Isn’t that like having an affair? I have to tell you…’ I felt myself blush furiously ‘I’ve only ever had one partner’ He smiled and squeezed my hand

‘That’s adorable, and so rare. But no, it’s not ‘real’ now is it? Isn’t that one of the first things you said to me? How many times have we made love in your head already?’ I squirmed in my seat.

‘Uh, okay. But am I selling my soul? Will I be able to get back out?’ He laughed out loud.

‘No, don’t be silly. This is all totally risk free. It happens with books too – it’s just easier electronically, that’s all. If you’re in a situation you don’t like, you can snap your fingers and be back in this hall – like Dorothy and her ruby red slippers. It’s just a bit of fun, trust me.’

‘Well, I think I’m sold’ I smiled at him. ‘Is it time to go back yet?’ His face dropped a little ‘oh, not that I want – I’m happy to stay longer, I just feel – a little shy. It’s not every day you meet your secret lover who doesn’t really exist’ He grinned again and my heart melted just a little more.

‘You’re sweet Les, shy is fine. I’ve made some bad choices believe me, some real man eaters who dragged me off to the steamiest fics they could find, it was exhausting’

‘You get tired?’ he shrugged

‘Not physically, after all my character had incredible stamina – but mentally and emotionally I can burn out, you know? The original Drake found it hard to deal with his feelings after all, and no matter how I’m written, that stays with me.’

‘Okay, talking about feeling - how about when you’re shot, or the duel when you’re wounded, does it hurt?’ He rubbed the back of his neck.

‘Well I don’t know how it is in the real world so I can’t compare – but it’s unpleasant, that much I can tell you, and if I know it’s coming – I’m not keen on it. Anything else?’

‘What happens if you aren’t attracted to your companion?’ I blushed, dammit…He gave my hand a squeeze again.

‘Well, it’s not totally random, I see or ‘feel’ the fics and go and take a look at the writer – though that’s not really a factor. It’s more or less a given that we’ll be attracted, as that’s written in. Also, as you’ve found out, you will have an idea in your head of how you’d like to appear, and it shows once you get here’ He waved his hand to indicate our surroundings ‘Either that or you match your faceclaim of the main character.  Actually a lot shows up in the writing, I’ve only once or twice made a bad decision as I said.’

‘So why me?’

‘As I said, I ‘felt’ your writing and thought we’d have some fun together. I like to be able to have some choice and not be dragged around randomly. I’m really pleased you’re okay with all this.’ He looked down at my hand, which was beginning to feel odd. I looked down too – it looked strange, becoming transparent, waves washing across it. I looked back up at my companion, and he smiled sadly.

‘Time to go back. I’m sorry we didn’t have more time. Close your eyes so it’s not too disorientating. I’ll see you tomorrow, unless you call me before. I’ll be waiting, just minimise your fic when you’re ready’ I nodded and closed my eyes.

I felt the odd pulling sensation again and a sort of a ‘whoosh’ in my ears, and when I opened my eyes I was back in front of my screen. I could hear my partner coming downstairs to use the bathroom. I blinked a few times and decided I had fallen asleep and had an odd dream. Time to close down, I thought, hit ‘save’ on my document, and closed down to go and join my partner. I quietly slipped into bed beside him.

‘What time is it?’ he said sleepily as I snuggled up beside him, relishing his warmth and solidity. It always was may favourite time of day, joining him in bed.

‘Bedtime’ I joked. ‘I think I fell asleep downstairs – I had the weirdest dream’

‘Uh huh’ he murmured, already drifting back to sleep. He didn’t dream much himself, and it was a weird one, so I didn’t bother to tell him, just kissed him on the cheek and let the memory lull me off into slumber.