Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Reynard Muldoon had always been different. At the orphanage where he lived for most of his early life, he learned many things. Things like “always say what people want to hear”, and “assume you’re smarter than them”.

Then Mr. Benedict came into his life. Oh Mr. Benedict. Reynie honestly owes him everything. He adopted him, and let him live at the school where he worked! Admittedly, some of his rules were a bit silly, but it didn’t really matter. He was safe.

Then he made friends. Constance and Sticky were Mr. Benedict’s head students. They were a shining example of what the students should try to be. And Kate! Kate was the perfect person. Her hair was always poised and perfect, her tetherball skills were amazing, and she was quick and smart.

So yeah, Reynie had a great life. At least, he used to. Everything had been going perfect. Mr. Benedict was more smiley at Reynie, and he had even let Reynie draw a portrait of the him!

Then four new students came into the school. First there were Jackson and Jillson, who were almost weirdly happy to each other (and Reynie couldn’t figure out if they were dating or siblings). Constance had told him once that, “They were even weirder than Kate.” Overhearing the girl, Sticky retorted with a smart quip and they both started arguing.

Then there was Martina. She had taken a strange kindling to Kate, insisting that she join the tetherball captain everywhere. Lastly, there was a boy named S.Q. He seemed to be the leader of the ragtag group. He was artistic; and Reynie could also often catch him staring at him and Mr. Benedict.

Reynie never really liked making friends. He already had enough. The people in the school avoided him and he avoided them. It was good. He liked being alone, after all, he’d always been an observer.

But it seemed that S.Q. had been trying to get close to him. Reynie didn't really like people getting close with him. Mr. Benedict said he wasn't to talk to strangers.

"Hey, you're Reynie, right?" Reynie heard a voice to his left and turned his head so quick it almost hurt. He looked up to see none other that S.Q staring at him.

"Yeah, do you need something, or...." He let his voice trail off, hoping the boy would leave. But he didn't. He sat down! Reynie was shocked. Usually people were to scared to talk to him. 

"That's a nice drawing Reynie." S.Q's voice was really calm. Reynie decided that he liked it. He softly smiled at the taller boy, muttering out a small thanks before running back to his dad's office.

"Dad!" Reynie burst into the room, where it seemed he had come at the wrong time. Mr. Benedict (his dad!!) was arguing with the head scientist lady (Reynie didn't know her name). He awkwardly stood there as the two adults paused. 

"Hello Reynard. Would you mind waiting to tell me what you wanted for a few minutes?" He nodded to his dad, gripping his bag's drawstring and running out and up to his room. 

Reynie's room was one of a kind. His dad had it made for him, so it was nothing like the dorms. It had a bed in one corner (surrounded by books) a desk by the window seat and a t.v with a couch. He'd brought Sticky, Constance, and Kate up one time, and they had laughed and said it was like an apartment. The boy flopped on the couch, taking out his sketchbook at beginning a sketch.

He never really liked watching T.V. His dad had told him not to anyways. He'd much rather be drawing or reading regardless. 

The next day, Reynie got up and got dressed, then went to breakfast. Classes were optional for him but his dad would always encourage him to go to them, so he always went. 

Always

Chapter Text

The classes Reynie took were often easier than Reynie wanted them to be. Some of the questions would occasionally challenge him, but mostly he would just sit in the back of class and sketch. He knew that the teachers would've loved to punish him, but they didn't. 

It didn't really make him feel powerful, having a sort of control over the teachers, but they were the cards he was dealt so he figured he might as well go along with it.

"Reynie! Do you have an answer?" The teacher seemed surprised when Reynie raised his hand. Even Kate and Sticky looked temporarily shocked, but they soon smiled, happy that he was participating.

The puzzle was a fairly simple sudoku, and Reynie had solved it quickly. He quietly explained his answer, slightly grinning at his friends as he sat down. They all shot him a quick smile.

Soon all of Reynie’s classes had finished, so he went to his father’s office to sketch. He decided to (for some unknown reason) draw a picture of a brain diagram. He didn’t know what had compelled him to draw this; only that it had flashed through his brain and he felt a need to sketch it out.

Once he was done, he held the sketch away from him, finally viewing the whole piece. His father looked up from his work and smiled. 

"Could I see what you drew Reynie?" His tone was happy, Reynie thought. The boy hesitated for a second and then nodded, standing up quickly and walking over to his dad's desk.

Mr. Benedict looked slightly shocked when he saw the sketch, but then his face split into a smile. 

"You're one special boy Reynie. Could you please excuse me for a second?" Reynie who was confused by these strange events, furrowed his brow but ended up muttering out a small yes and walking away.

He decided to walk over and talk to Sticky and Constance who were right outside, like they always were. 

"Hello you two!" Reynie greeted them with his usual chipper tone. Sticky slightly jumped in shock and Constance simply turned and gave him a small smile. 

"Hello Reynie." The two said it in sync (which was slightly creepy, but Reynie didn't comment).  The boy then suggested that they grab Kate and go to his room. The two 'twins' nodded and smiled as they all walked away.

Kate was, of course, at the tetherball court and for some reason, S.Q and his little group were there. Reynie's eyebrows shot up at Kate, who merely shrugged and smiled. Reynie walked onto the court while dodging the games that were happening (and ignoring the obvious stares of the other group).

"Kate!" Kate smiled at Reynie's friendly greeting, turning to him somehow while still playing a game. 

"Hey Reynie I'm assuming you want to go to-" she whispered the next part, "the apartment?" Reynie smiled and rolled his eyes. 

"Yes.", he whispered back. He smiled as all three of his friends walked with him, and pretended that he didn't hear the other group arguing whether or not to follow him. 

He couldn't wait for them to get promoted to messenger duty. 

Reynie smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. 

Chapter Text

Sticky had always been very fond of Reynie. Perhaps it was because he liked Mr. Benedict (so naturally he would like his son) but also Reynie was just so nice.

He never let the power of being headmaster’s son get to his head, and he was always considerate of Sticky and Constance’s messenger duties.

Sticky had memorized a lot of things about Reynie. He always drew in the same sketchbook, and even if it was filled up, he would just replace it with the exact same new one. Reynie always wore his socks in uneven pairs. Sticky thought that it was a habit he picked up from Mr. Benedict.

All in all, Reynie could be considered Sticky’s friend, maybe even his best friend. He was grateful that at least he had three friends (since most were scared of him).

Constance had been his one friend for a long time. Even though she was irritating sometimes, Sticky really cared for her. And Kate was truly amazing. She was funny, delightful, and she cared for all of them. And Mr. Benedict was great, Sticky didn’t even mind that he was mind controlling people.

Sticky smiled as he chatted with his friends while they walked over to Reynie’s room. Reynie had just said, “I finished a new sketch, would you guys like to see?” And Constance, ever so polite, had responded with a snarky “Yes please your highness!” Kate had laughed at that, which wasn’t shocking, since she cared for Constance like a little sister.

Just then, they had made it to Reynie’s door. He pulled a key from who knows where and unlocked it.

“I always thought it was strange Mr. Benedict made you have a lock on your door Reynie.” Sticky remarked in a thoughtful tone. Reynie simply slightly looked behind Sticky and smiled.

They walked into the large room, and all paused. Every time they came in, they liked to take a moment to simply look at it. They had all helped paint a large sky mural on the ceiling, and it brought back good memories every day.

Reynie walked away first. He took of his jacket and dropped it on the couch, before taking off his bag and pulling out a sketchbook. They all gathered around him.

He flipped to the page, and Sticky held in a gasp as Constance looked over to him.

“It just flashed in my brain and, I don’t know, I just felt the need to sketch it out.” Reynie seemed a little worried about it, which in turn made Kate furrow her brow (and begin to walk around, picking things up off the floor and organize his books).

“I- We’ve seen that diagram before Reynie. Mr. Benedict has it in one of his-” Constance coughed, silently reminding Sticky not to say the name of the room, “labs.” Reynie’s eyes widened as he thought for a moment.

“That’s pretty freaky Reynie.” Kate suddenly spoke up from the floor, where she was re-arranging books. Sticky and Constance nodded in agreement.

“It’s okay everyone. Let’s just focus on something else.” They all nodded and then begun talking about random things like Sticky’s weird obsession with Trivia, Constance’s pink coat, and Kate’s bucket.

They were all in a fit of giggles when they heard a noise outside the door. Assuming it was Mr. Benedict, they all shot up. Sticky and Constance both fixed their clothes while Kate hid her bucket behind her back. Reynie adjusted his hair before walking over to the door.

Sticky held in a breath as Reynie opened it.

“Oh! Hello S.Q.” Sticky smiled and grabbed Constance's hand.

Chapter Text

"Was there.. something that you needed?" Reynie asked, tilting his head slightly, as to block his friends from SQ's line of view.

"Well, I- I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a second, I've seen you drawing and I- I like to draw too, so I just wanted to ask if I could see some of your drawings?" SQ rambled, looking a bit embarrassed at a lack of a physical reaction from Reynie.

Internally however, Reynie was freaking out. No one ever asked about his drawings. Not even Sticky! He'd always had to prompt people, so for someone to ask to see them, this was new. Reynie stood still, staring intently at S.Q.

"Yeah, you can see my drawings." Reynie said softly, before turning to the left a bit. "Just give me a second to get my stuff, okay?" He said, pushing the door until it was almost shut, and turning to get his bag. 

When he turned, however, he saw his friends (who he may or may not have forgotten were there) attempting to exit his room via the fire escape, under Kate's guidance. Reynie rushed over to the group, murmuring, "What are you guys doing?"

"It was Kate's idea" Constance immediately said. Sticky nodded as Kate threw up her arms in defeat. 

"Really Constance? I just thought maybe you were gonna need to get in your room or something." Kate said, climbing back in the window and shutting it gently. Reynie laughed silently. 

"I'm gonna go.. go draw in the forest. You guys can stay here or you can leave, doesn't matter." The boy said, grabbing the messenger bag he had thrown over the couch when he'd entered the room. He walked over to the door and stepped through it, shutting it behind him.

"I was thinking we could go out to the forest, if that's okay with you?" Reynie asked S.Q. The other boy nodded, and the two set out.

On the way to the forest which circled the island, the two talked. Their topics of discussion were varied, but the conversation flowed naturally and easily. Reynie hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. He enjoyed the conversation so much in fact, that he made the walk towards the forest twice as long as it should have been.

Once they arrived and found a nice patch of grass to lie on, Reynie delicately pulled out the sketchbook, handing it to S.Q.

"Wow Reynie, these are really good!" S.Q. said, tenderly flipping through the pages. Reynie brightened immediately. "You think so?" He asked, practically beaming when S.Q. nodded. 

"The most I can draw is a tree and a few animals. I prefer reading." S.Q said, not taking his eyes off of the sketchbook in his hands. Reynie hummed in acknowledgement, "Drawing is the only thing I really get to do these days." He said.

The two talked for a little while longer, until it got dark. 

"Thanks. For today, I mean." S.Q. said when they arrived at his dorm. Reynie nodded and smiled at him. "Goodnight S.Q." Reynie said, turning and walking towards his room.

When he got to his room however, something was off. He unlocked the door and entered in. Initially, the room looked the same, but there were subtle changes. It was... cleaner, almost. Reynie hung up his coat and bag and took of his shoes, before walking towards the couch. 

Mr. Benedict was sitting on the couch.

Reynie startled, quickly straightening his clothes and hair. "Hello Mr. Benedict! What are you doing here?" He asked. 

"I was just checking on the cleanliness of your room, I'd like you to pick up cleaning a little more often, once a week at least." Reynie nodded sharply. "Sorry" He murmured. 

Mr. Benedict stood up and straightened his suit. "No need to apologize son, simply take the criticism and adapt." The man turned and walked towards the door. "Oh, and stay away from that Curtain kid, he's trouble." Reynie nodded again, tracking his father as he opened the door. 

"Goodnight Reynard." He said, with a small smile.

"Goodnight dad." Reynie replied, watching the door shut and hearing the click of the lock.

That night, as Reynie got ready for bed, he couldn't help but think of Mr. Benedict, sitting in the dark, cleaning up his room, waiting for him. Reynie shouldn't have been scared by it, but for some reason, the thought scared him. 

He shook of the thoughts, reminding himself that Mr. Benedict was his dad. So, he supposed, for now at least he would stay away from S.Q.