Fluent Freshman - Part 16
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Sweeties is very busy tonight but they get a table relatively quickly. He sees some people looking at their group all dressed in the ‘required’ attire for going out to Eden’s and reminds himself that maybe it’s for the best that people remember him tonight. It MAY help the police find his body in a shallow grave somewhere if they can piece together his last few hours.
Nicky stops by the salad bar and grabs three packs of crackers. He hands one pack to FF who just stares blankly at it before shrugging and figuring his stomach needs something so he opens the pack and just eats the crackers.
Nicky looks at him with an abundance of fondness that he doesn’t understand but shakes his head and hands a laminated menu over to him to order dinner from. “I know you’re not drinking but you still gotta take your meds before we leave.” Nicky reminds and FF nods. He reaches into his pocket to confirm that they’re there and feels something cheap and plastic.
Oh god, he forgot to take his Happy Meal Toy out of his pocket. No one needs to know that.
He shoves his hand into his other jacket pocket and the sandwich baggy with his single dose for his Ulcer is right there.
He starts to look at the menu when he realizes that everyone else already knows what they’re going to order since they apparently come here regularly. He tries his best to never be a regular at any place where they can see him and repeat his order back to him (Hello CVS girl, yes thank you for holding some Pepto for him. No he is very brand loyal and would not like to try Tums thank you.)
FF stands behind the art of the panic pick.
He has cultivated this ability over his many years of panicking. He can look at a menu and pick an item that might not be the thing he most wants on that menu it is something that he can eat or drink. Then while he has that pick queued up and ready to fly if a member of the waitstaff comes over before he’s actually read what’s on offer he has his panic pick.
A place like this has GOT to have a burger.
He finds it under the sandwich section easily enough and now he has his panic pick as he peruses the rest of the menu.
The waitress comes far faster than he had anticipated and slams waters down at each of their spots. “What can I get you?” She asks and before anyone says anything Nicky and Aaron slide over the two packets of crackers that she takes before looking at the empty packet in front of FF, “Just two?” She asks.
WHAT KIND OF CODE IS THIS?
“Just two.” Nicky says grabbing his trash and handing it over to her.
She shrugs, “Anything else on the menu I can get you boys?” She asks.
They all make their orders and Nicky, bravely, steps in to remind him he likes his burgers well done when the waitress asks.
“Sorry, I should have warned you.” Nicky laughs bumping his shoulder against FF’s “This place has this stuff called cracker dust, it gets you high but it’s not addictive.” He says.
Every single 80’s PSA goes off in FF’s head all at once.
NICKY “FLIPS TURTLES BACK ONTO THEIR FEET” HEMMICK DOES NOT LOOK LIKE HOW THE ‘JUST SAY NO’ ADS HAD SAID HE WOULD.
There’s not a trench coat! He wasn’t even wearing a hoodie with the hood up! There’s no sunglasses! Nicky had given him a baggie for his ulcer meds but IT WAS A SANDWICH BAG.
“I see.” He says out loud.
“Do you wanna try some.” Aaron asks. He double checks and yeah Aaron is still in the same club clothes he had left the house with. He has on a hoodie but the hood is down.
He does as any 80’s teen sitcom protagonist does by the end of the episode.
“No thank you.”
He thinks Mr. T would be happy that he said No. That ad had been especially nerve wracking as a kid when Mr. T ‘shakes some sense’ into the camera.
“Alright, no worries. Neil and Andrew don’t do any either.” Nicky says quickly.
The drugs come with the food and Nicky and Aaron pocket them before handing over cash to the waitress who just counts it right there. He focuses on digging into his burger and realizes it has jalapeños on it but Nicky volunteers to eat them with his nachos and lets the conversation weave around him as he polishes off his burger and takes his ulcer meds. “Oh cool, hand me the bag so I can keep our stuff in there.” Nicky makes a grabbing motion with his hands and FF just hands it over.
He zones out as he eats his fries. He wonders if Great Gran is upset watching him or if she’s happy that he said no to drugs. Maybe he should have said yes, then he could at least be blasted out of his mind when Andrew dragged him to the basement.
Well, it’s too late now.
The waitress comes and clears out their plates but picks up her notepad and pen again. “So, what ice cream do you boys want tonight?” She asks and looks straight at FF.
But FF is prepared.
Ice cream places are easy. His panic pick is a given, it’s Vanilla. Every ice cream joint has it so he barely even notices how his heart rate kicks up to 190 BPM and his palms grow instantly sweaty.
“Vanilla.”
“Sorry Hun, we’re fresh out.”
OH GOD. QUICK, SAY SOMETHING ELSE.
“Surprise me.”
NO YOU IDIOT SAY CHOCOLATE.
“Surprise you?”
RETRACT, IT’S NOT TOO LATE.
“Yeah. Surprise me.” He repeats and he can FEEL Nicky vibrating with laughter next to him.
“Alright Hun, I’ll surprise you.” She winks at him and he blinks back at her.
The rest of the table all order (They’re all normal people who order strawberry (neil), the special with chocolate (Nicky), Lemon Sorbet (Aaron), and Brownie Fudge (Andrew).
“Surprise me.” Nicky whispers to him.
“I panicked.” He whispers back.
“Yeah obviously.” Nicky snorts but pats him, “It’s fine. The worst is you might end up with Pistachio or something.” He pats FF on the back.
FF likes Pistachio and the world loves to make FF suffer.
“Here you go hun. We just got this in, it’s Mango.” She says setting down two scoops of a bright orange ice cream down in front of him, “With a little surprise.” She winks again as she sets the other ice cream down.
They all get started.
Why is the Ice Cream kind of spicy?
He eventually puzzles out that the waitress has served him a Mango and some kind of pepper (probably habanero) ice cream. She smiles when he thanks her for the surprise, tries not to let it show how much the spice is KILLING his stomach let alone the acid of the mango.
Andrew has his eyes narrowed on him and he’s sure the man doesn’t want him to make a scene at a place that seems to be a frequent haunt for the family. So he eats every last bite and ignores how his lips tingle.
“Ohhh it must have been good. Maybe we should get you her number.” Nicky says looking at his empty bowl.
“No, I’m good.” She was pretty but considering the acid currently swirling in his stomach she probably thought he was an asshole for asking for her to ‘surprise him’. Even if that wasn’t the case, what if she thought it’d be cute to serve him this spicy ice cream as a cute couple thing? His stomach can’t take that.
“Aw man you’re no fun.” Nicky pouts.
They pay for their meals and the waitress hands him his receipt with a wink. He nods back at her before shoving the receipt into his pocket next to the Megamind toy. “Have a good night.” He says.
“You too Hun.” She says.
They head out for Eden’s and in a way the ice cream is a blessing because his stomach hurts enough that he barely even notices his anxiety about being at the place where Andrew most certainly is going to stab him at least once by the end of the night.
MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU
NEXT
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The requests to be added to the tag list got spread out across a few different mediums on this one so if I missed you I swear it wasn’t malicious I’m just brunch dumb at the moment. Remind me in the replies!
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You know what I think would make Ever After High much better? They don't get rid of the book in Wonderland, it's still a thing they're struggling on the next special, Raven's mom lures Apple to the room she's kept in
But instead of taunting Apple with her happy ending, she manipulates her by playing a loving mother. She asks about how Raven is doing in school, if she's struggling with any classes, does she have friends? Are they good to her? Does she have a partner? Is her favorite food still chocolate cake, how did prom go? Was her dress pretty? Is she having fun? How tall is she now, I heard she has taken after me in hight.
She's everything Apple wishes her own Mom was. She cares about more then Raven's grades, she remembers little meaningless things like her favorite cookies. She's an attentive loving mother that wants her daughter to be free and happy
And maybe she's evil, but who's to say she actually is? None of all the things Apple was told were true, so maybe this is a lie to! And Raven deserves to have her mom!
She frees the evil queen and she hides as a student saying that she's nervous to immediately meet with Raven after all this time
And then we get the plot and stuff
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They really should've let us meet Duke Ravenguard before he got captured.
Right now, it's Just Some Guy, and he's gone before you could've gotten into the burning building.
But what if—but what if you meet the Duke, and he has no idea who you are, but you can tell him you're a Baldurian and suddenly he's like 'I must help you, because my city's people are not unaffected.' And you get the chance to point out it's, at most, four of you in the woods. But the Duke says that four is enough. That even one would be enough. He appologises that he needs the time to gather his supplies and people, but come to Walkeen's Rest tomorrow and you will head out to return to the Gate and the best healers within it at the first light of dawn
...and then you show up and the goddamn town is on fire.
Wyll would get an alternate scene where he's heartened to see his father after so long, attempts to explain, and yet his father scorns him for the monster he's become (if you've met Karlach) or tethered himself to (if Karlach isn't there or already turned over to Mizora). Wyll attempts to explain, but his father cuts him off, says he'll never forgive him. Then the Duke catches himself. Apologises that his responsibilities and duties as a Duke must come between them. And that, in lieu of forgiveness, he could at least listen to Wyll. But that he is too angry right now, and any explanation would fall on deafened ears. Please, the Duke pleads with us. Come back tomorrow, if you could stomach a father who could not give his forgiveness, but would at least give you supplies for the road instead. And of course Wyll gives you puppy dog eyes so you agree.
That night, Wyll tells you a little of what brought him to Mizora's feet, and his hopes that, even if his father couldn't forgive him, the two of them may tomorrow reach an understanding, at least. Wyll tells you how long he's said nothing to his father, from his fears of what he would think, trying to protect the Duke from Wyll's own follies. But that he sees now that Wyll wasn't trying to protect his father or the Gate, but himself. Wyll cannot tell his father everything—because at this point Wyll doesn't even know—but you can help bolster his resolve to tell his father what he can.
...then you wake and the village is on fire.
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"I mean, keeping Nexus as a villain sounds interesting but with how villains are usually treated he's probably going to die-"
"We have to kill him." -Solar
"… Aw, damn it."
Anyway, looking at Nexus with big ol' eyes. I hate him (i love his character so much I want to look him under a microscope)
Thougghh some specific lines I do find interesting.
"I realized something. Problems don't need to exist if I get rid of them. If I have nobody to love, I don't need to care when they're gone. So, I ripped out my emotions, stomped on them, and burned them with this new power."
Sounds to me like he was getting exhausted with caring and stressing out about the people he loved so much. If he did love them. I'm assuming he did, despite what Nexus says. (Though it's a cool thought if he actually didn't. Mixing up love with the feelings of needing to protect and care for the people around him because he thought he needed to do that. "Loving" his family because he thought that's what he was supposed to do.)
Maybe when Solar died and he realized how much despair it brought him, he thought how he would survive if his other siblings died. If losing one hurt so bad, what would happen if he lost the others? He wouldn't be able to live with that. So distancing himself and cutting them off entirely fixes that problem. (But he still cares. He's trying to be apathetic but deep down he still cares. Maybe, I don't know his thought process anymore at this point.)
I'm assuming the dark/negative star power is not only killing him, is also accelerating his terrible mental state, sending him down a deeper rabbit hole. It's still him doing all of this villain stuff though so like... shrug.
"I was weak. Now I have something you can never compare to."
Tired of being hurt? Tired of constantly trying to survive life because of the antagonists? Because if he stands at the top, then nobody can cause him any more pain.
"Deep down, I think I always was this."
I want to raise my eyebrow at Nexus but also,,, it is an interesting thought. Simmering hatred(?) of the others and wanting to be stronger (to not get hurt anymore.) that was blinded by loving the others. But I also think he's bullshitting through his teeth.
But I actually really like how this is going for Nexus now, honestly. And while I'm still hoping for a redemption arc, as long as he doesn't get killed I don't mind this whole villain thing. The family having to deal with problems caused by someone they once loved? Is a really cool plotline. I feel like this entire post may be extremely obvious, but. I don't know, I'm just putting my thoughts together.
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nobody's doing it like itsuki yyh. i've been thinking about him and sensui a lot today but like. ok get this. imagine being a demon and this cute human guy (you are gay btw green hair and pronounsed and everything) shows up and tries to kill you and almost succeeds. you survive because you lament that you're gonna miss the finale of a show you watch/see a niche pop artist on tv (depending on adaptation, but either way these are your last words and it airs the next night), and he says he's into it too. you become partners. this man, shinobu sensui, is a spirit detective who's been haunted by demons his whole life, has been killing them with the complete, unwavering belief that he's right for it, since he was in pre-k. you being a demon does not seem to change how he thinks about this. it doesn't change your feelings either, since he fascinates you. you help him kill demons.
one day, your human is confronted with one of the worst sights imaginable, one that shatters his worldview completely. he sees demons being tortured and slaughtered hedonistically by a group of humans. he can't process it. he splits. your shinobu is now one of seven within his body. you love each of them. you love him. you watch as he pivots into a deep hatred of humanity, and of himself for slaughtering so many demons, and of his own inescapable humanity. you love it. you can't get enough of it. watching someone so pure and self-assured become confused, disillusioned, twisted, evil, broken, it thrills and captivates you. it's beautiful, and you egg it on. you make it worse, obsessively. you make him worse. you only want what he wants, really. but you want him to want it worse. sensui is spiraling and you don't steady him, you accelerate it and accelerate it, until he's deciding that before he dies (which will be sooner than you'd like, sooner than you know what to do with), he's going to end humanity. he's going to unleash demonkind on them and secure his redemption, his doom, his punishment. it's a baptism by fire. what a way to go. a very sensui way to go, and you love it like the rest of him: poisonously. you don't need a word of convincing, no argument (as desperate as sensui is to argue his case for this), not a second of that tape, to follow him. you watch as sensui breaks the fragile people he encounters, wrenches them into misanthropic weapons. he's amazing at it. minoru is amazing at it. he brings together his crew of heart-bleeding, self-loathing pawns, and in your downtime you and sensui watch human tv, share your love for animals, plants, the human world. you cherish, distract yourself with, and celebrate these together. they're what brought you together in the first place, and you will destroy them together. you wonder if he knows that these things he loves will surely die when the demons come. you expect he views them as necessary casualties in ridding the world of human evil. how deliciously cruel he can be. you savor it. you have to savor it. you don't like thinking about the end. that sensui will barely be alive to enjoy his victory. is he so convinced of humanity's foulness that he would never bend, never doubt his genocide at all? or would he come to regret it? would he hate himself even more than he does now? once the greater evil, humanity, is eliminated, would he turn his sights on himself? he may see himself as one of the "enlightened" humans who know mankind's evil, but he is still a human with plenty of demon blood on his hands. you want to know. you're desperate for it. you don't ask him what he thinks he will become. you want to watch it unfold naturally, for as long as he is around. let the ink bleed over the page. don't blow. don't wave the paper, don't even touch it. be patient.
your sensui is killed spectacularly at the finish line. he was struck down by a human reborn as a demon. how fitting. it's what sensui wanted, and you are happy for him, as much as you can be. it's bittersweet. you knew it would end soon. you both did. you talked about it all the time. and now it's... over. the portal is being resealed. demons will not wipe out mankind. humanity will go on, unaffected. your sensui's lonely war against his own kind is already being forgotten by the few who knew of it. such a beautiful moment, swept away by time, your sensui. and now his enemies want to claim his soul. his body. to bring him to the afterlife, for whatever judgement awaits him. and you fulfill your final obligation to him. you take him away. sensui did not want any part of that, and neither do you, not particularly. it sounds rather painful, all considered. you lift him and slip away to where no one can reach you. your own little dimension, your own little pocket of existence, just the two of you. no one can touch him now. you, either, not that you care. you hold him like you have for years, and think of your future together. here, where no one can reach him. no one will touch him or stain him or rip him or tear him ever again, not even you. but you will always be closest, and that's enough. cut off from humankind and demonkind completely. it's only you. and it's only him. you wonder how long you will live, like this. a long time. it makes no difference. sensui has broken completely, and you hold the shards of him. every piece remaining is yours, is in your arms, will be yours forever. you wonder if this should be enough for you. if you should be satisfied. you are. as someone whose last regret was missing a late night program, you don't see much point in leaving. what is there for itsuki without sensui? what is there in the world worthwhile? demons, humans, the rest of it. none of it would ever compare. not even to the shards.
you wonder, and it is far from the first or the last time, how sensui will change now, in your arms. white to black, skin to bone to dust. and when you die your soul will dissipate like his, and in a little unreality you and he will linger forever, where no one can know or recall. you will die a secret of the world, a potential wasted, a close call, a scream that is swallowed last-minute. and you will be together. it's all that's mattered for a long time. you wonder if you'll ever change. you don't expect to.
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