Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When it comes to fandoms, take a gander at what I've written for before (especially the fandoms I've written a lot for) and keep in mind I'm not fully familiar with every source material I've written for so, in some instances, I may be ill-equipped to fulfill your fic. For this reason, it also may be helpful for you to be more vague with your requests, but that is ultimately up to you.

Also, I am not obligated to fulfill your request. I'm doing this for fun and for free. If you nag me about it (like leave comments/DMs asking about it or leaving the same request across several of my platforms), then that's a very quick way for me to decide I'm just not gonna write your request. Leave a comment and go about your day.

I WILL WRITE:

• I love headcanon-based fics (like making characters Autistic, trans, disabled, etc.)
• Most pairings
• Most fandoms (that I'm familiar with)
• Implied/referenced sexual content (NOT SMUT OR FETISH WORK)
• Honestly most things that aren't on the "no" list

I WILL NOT WRITE:

• Smut or fetish fics
• Pedophilia, incest (including adopted family), bestiality, necrophilia, etc.
• Racial slurs (I'm white asf) or just any slurs I am not able to reclaim. If I'm writing a fic about someone being discriminatory and it's regarding something I can't personally reclaim that language for, then just know it won't include any sort of slurs related to that
• Age regression
• Omegaverse
• Rape fics (I'll gladly do fics that allude to it in relation to someone's trauma but I absolutely will not write full descriptions of sexual assault)
• Drowning
• Werewolf AUs

If you have a request you want me to potentially write here, just leave a comment of your request :)

Chapter Text

Ashlyn was dealing with a lot of stress.

Everyone in the group kept looking to her for guidance even though, truthfully, she was just about as lost as the rest of them. It was hard, being the leader to a group of people who she'd only recently gotten to know and in a situation she had no ground in.

Making it worse was the fact that she, like the rest of them, had been losing a lot of sleep, making her even more unable to handle stressors.

It all came to a head one day during math class.

The teacher called on her to answer a problem in a moment where her attention drifted. She, of course, didn't know the answer, causing the teacher to start reprimanding her, and this was the final straw.

Her vision went blurry and she was no longer hearing whatever the teacher was saying, far more focused on the growing tightness in her chest and how it was getting harder for her to breathe.

Before she could even process what she was doing, she grabbed her bag and walked out of the class, her feet taking her to the end of a hallway that barely anyone ever went down. She slid down the wall and curled into a ball on the ground.

Shakily, she reached around for her headphones and brought them over her ears to block out the world while she desperately tried to breathe.

At some point, a figure had come over and knelt down in front of her, but she couldn't be bothered in her panic to figure out or care who it was. Not when it felt like she was dying.

But, then, the figure started talking.

Her brain recognized it to be Aiden and, once she focused more on who the figure was, she could confirm that it was, in fact, Aiden.

"Hey, Ash" he said gently, careful not to touch her. As bad as he was with registering boundaries, even he knew that this was decidedly a no-touching sort of situation. "Can you try and take a deep breath? I'll guide you" he offered. She managed a shaky nod. "Okay, in... And out... In... And out..."

After a few minutes, she actually began to calm down, and found herself very embarrassed.

"You weren't supposed to see that" she said. He shrugged. "...How did you know how to help with that?"

"Ben"

"Right..."

"Wanna go for a walk before the bell rings for next period?" Aiden offered, standing up. He reached out his hand and helped her to her feet as well. She kept her headphones on, but was otherwise feeling a lot better than she had been a few moments prior. "It might help to stretch your limbs a bit after that"

"...Yeah, okay"

"Score!"

Chapter Text

It was getting pretty late.

Stolas had been sitting up on the couch, reading a book to try and distract himself from his depression. At some point, while he was like this, Loona had stumbled in, drunk, and then would up curling up in his lap like a lap dog. He wasn't sure what had happened or how drunk she had to be to do this with him, but he didn't want to ruin the bonding(?) moment, so he didn't shoo her away or anything of the sort.

Now, though, he wanted to lie down and sleep, but that change of position would require him to wake up and potentially move the sleeping woman. He had a serious case of Pet Lap Syndrome going on, only it was ten times more severe since the pet in this situation was actually his sort-of boyfriend's adopted daughter.

He sighed, put aside his book, and placed his hand on her back, leaning back on the couch as much as he could without jostling her too much. He was far too big and the couch was far too tiny for him to comfortably sleep like that, but he had no choice.

You don't move when an animal is resting in your lap.

Chapter Text

Aiden walked into his bathroom in the middle of the night, needing to pee, when he stumbled across a sight he never expected: Tyler leaning over the sink with a kitchen knife in hand and blood dripping from his arm.

"Tyler" Aiden said very cautiously. Tyler was staring at him with wide, scared eyes. "What happened?"

"What does it fucking look like?" Tyler bit back, embarrassed and angry. It was the middle of the night, so he hadn't thought anyone would see him. He'd been so anxious about the whole thing that he hadn't been focused on locking the door. And now he was just so mad at himself. "Get out!"

"This is my bathroom" Aiden reminded. Tyler glared at him. "Can I help you bandage it up at least?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I've dealt with this sort of thing before" Aiden admitted. Tyler's eyes widened. Aiden seemed so unbothered, he would've never guessed that Aiden would have experience with this stuff. "Can I help you?"

"...Okay"

"Please don't tell anyone" Tyler begged as Aiden cleaned up his wounds and wrapped his arm in gauze. "I don't want Taylor to worry or for anyone to think lesser of me" he continued. "It's bad enough that you know now"

"I won't tell" Aiden promised. "And I won't report you or anything. But, can you please explain to me why you did this?"

"Everything's just been a lot recently" Tyler sighed. "With the Phantoms, and..." he trailed off. Aiden didn't need to know about his home life. "Just, everything" he said. Aiden nodded patiently. "I thought, maybe if I distracted myself with physical pain, then..."

"...then the mental pain would hurt less" Aiden finished for him. Tyler nodded. Then, despite his best attempts at self-control, he began to cry. "Oh, hey" Aiden said gently, opening up his arms. Tyler launched himself forward and hugged the blonde. "I'm sorry it's been so bad"

"I just feel so weak" Tyler cried. Aiden nodded. His eyes caught a smudge on the mirror and he wondered about the origin of it, but he quickly shook the thought away before he got too distracted. His... Friend was struggling right now, and he needed to be there to support him.

"You're not weak, Tyler" Aiden told him. Tyler didn't say anything. "I'm proud of you for telling me. That sounds like you've been dealing with a lot"

"I guess"

"Hey, how about this?" Aiden spoke up, pulling out of the hug. "Do you have a favorite snack or meal?"

"Anything with a lot of protein in it"

"I think I have some freezer meals with meat in them that you can take a look at" Aiden offered. "You can pick one, I'll throw it in the microwave for you, and you can have that before you try and go back to bed" he went on. "Plus, the added time would be good to make sure you don't start bleeding through your bandages"

"...Yeah, okay"

"Okay" the blonde smiled, standing up from the edge of the tub where he'd been sitting and offering a hand to help Tyler up from the toilet lid. "Come on"

"Hey, Aiden"

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you" Tyler said meekly. Aiden just smiled.

"No need. Now, come on, standing still like this is actually killing me"

Chapter Text

The day had started alright.

It was the weekend, so Tyler slept in an hour or two more than usual (which was especially helpful since the bulk of his nights were now taken up by the Phantom Realm) and had been able to slip out of the house undetected by his mother, which allowed him some rare alone time.

While he was enjoying the fresh air, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. This was a bit abnormal, as he had the group chat on mute and didn't have many apps on his phone, so he pulled it out and was glad to see that it was a text from Ben, inviting him to come over.

He liked Ben, easily far more than any of the other new 'friends' he'd made from this whole evil dream world situation, so he quickly accepted the invite and started walking to the boy's massive, borderline mansion of a house.

It was a bit of a hike, but he didn't want to catch his mom's attention by going back inside to collect some coins for the bus, so he just made the walk. He could use the exercise anyhow.

Along the way, he felt a small pang of discomfort in his lower abdomen, but he didn't think much of it, writing it off as just hunger since he hadn't eaten anything yet that day. He could ask for a snack when he got to Ben's, it was fine.

Once he got there, things were going fine for a while. Ben made him a little plate of food, the two were hanging out, and everything seemed fine... Until Tyler had to pee.

He excused himself to the bathroom and, with horror, found blood when he sat down.

It wasn't enough that it had bled through to his pants, but his underwear was wrecked. What was worse was that he didn't have anything for it. He thought for a moment about using toilet paper, but that would be uncomfortable and he also didn't want to use so much of the toilet paper when this wasn't even his house.

The thing was, though, Ben didn't know that he was trans. No one in the group did, apart from of course his sister. He was actually a bit surprised that seemingly no one had figured it out, considering that he and his sister were identical twins, but he was comfortable with that. He didn't owe anyone that information.

He was starting to regret that now.

He pulled out his phone and shot Ben a frantic text. He wasn't sure what else to even say, so he just swallowed his pride and asked the most important question at the moment.

boytwin: hey i hate to ask but can you run to cvs or something and pick up some t@mp0ns

bendoesntspeak: Oh, yeah, no problem.

bendoesntspeak: Do you need them for your sister or something?

Tyler took a deep breath before answering Ben's inquiry.

boytwin: no actually its me

boytwin: im trans

bendoesntspeak: Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

bendoesntspeak: It had to be ONE of you, right?

bendoesntspeak: Everything okay?

boytwin: yeah i just didnt know it was starting today and i didnt bring anything

boytwin: if you could also get some underwear thatd be appreciated

boytwin: im a size medium

boytwin: god this is embarrassing

bendoesntspeak: Hey, don't worry about it, man.

bendoesntspeak: I'm heading out now. Don't die.

Tyler sat on the toilet, feeling ashamed and disgusting for a while until he eventually heard the door to the house open once again, followed by a buzz on his phone.

bendoesntspeak: Hey, I'll just leave the stuff outside the door so you can have your privacy.

boytwin: thanks

Tyler opened the door after a moment and saw a CVS bag on the ground, which he quickly grabbed before shutting the door again.

In the bag, he found a box of tampons, a pack of boxers, and, to his surprise, a variety of chocolates, a bottle of ibuprofen, and a heating pad.

He quickly cleaned himself up, put in a tampon, and put on some boxers. Once he was cleaned up, he left the bathroom, left the house to throw his old underwear in the outside trash, came back in, and then found Ben sitting on the couch in the living room, playing a video game.

Ben paused his game, smiled, and waved the other boy over, so Tyler timidly walked into the living room, set the CVS bag down on the couch, and sat next to Ben.

"Thank you..." Tyler said in a low voice. "You didn't need to get all that"

'I wanted to help' Ben signed in response. Tyler smiled at him, a gesture which Ben returned earnestly before passing him a second controller. 'Mario Kart?'

"Oh, I'm going to beat your ass so hard"

'We'll see about that'

Chapter Text

Lilith was lying on the couch, feeling rather fatigued.

She was still getting used to the fatigue and aches that came along with the curse, and was also grappling with extreme guilt over the realization that this was what she'd subjected her sister to from such a young age. Poor Eda had been dealing with these symptoms for so long that she wasn't even phased by it anymore...

And it was Lilith's fault.

These emotions led to her growing rather feathery and, in her pit of guilt, she didn't even think to look for potions. No, all she could focus on once the sensations pulled her from her spiral was how itchy and uncomfortable it was.

She was growing itchier and itchier by the second, and her body was morphing in ways it really shouldn't be, and suddenly the lights were too bright and every little sound was too loud, and-

"Oh, Lilith, hey" a voice said, and then a glass was put to her lips. Bitter but familiar liquid poured down Lilith's throat and, after a moment, she felt her body returning back to normal, but it was too late at this point. It had all just been too much and her body couldn't handle it.

She curled up into a ball against the couch (When did I fall off the couch?) and rocked back and forth. No sound could leave her mouth and, when Eda asked what was wrong, she barely processed that words had been spoken and certainly couldn't respond.

Eda remembered times when they were younger when Lilith would get overwhelmed and just shut down. It had always been of great annoyance to their mother, so Eda had been the one to take care of her sister in these moments.

Eda quickly put out all the lights in the room and asked Hooty, who could be heard singing outside, to quiet down. Luz and King were out of the house at the time, so she wasn't worried about that, and instead just focused on making her sister as comfortable as possible.

Quietly, she went upstairs and got a big, thick blanket, since blankets had always helped Lilith calm down when they were kids. And, sure enough, when she draped the blanket over her sister's back and shoulders, Lilith visibly relaxed a bit.

Eventually, the rocking slowed, and Lilith pulled her head up a bit. She wouldn't look directly at Eda but, when quietly asked if she was alright, she managed a small shrug in response.

Eda went to get water for her sister and, while she did that, Lilith got back onto the couch, lied down under the blanket, and fell asleep from exhaustion. Eda just smiled when she saw this, set the water on the table, and left her sister to get some rest.

Titan knows the woman needed it.

Chapter Text

Aiden had been quieter lately.

It was subtle, but he hadn't been quite as wacky and loud and bouncy and talkative as he normally was. He still had that insane, constant smile plastered on, but something about it felt off. He still cracked jokes, but they felt ingenuine.

No one else seemed to notice it, but Taylor did. She could tell that something was up with the boy but, for the life of her, she couldn't place exactly what it was.

One night, as the group met up in the Phantom Realm, she noticed that he was sitting way in the back of the bus, away from the rest of the group, looking down at something. Curious, she quietly got up and went to see what he was doing.

Coming closer, she noticed the panicked expression on his face.

"Aiden, what's going on?" she asked as she approached, her eyes drifting down to his exposed arms and, more specifically, the fresh-looking scars on them. Frantically, he pulled them down, but it was too late. The two just stared at each other for a moment before the silence was broken by Tyler at the front of the bus.

"You two okay back there?" he called. Aiden's eyes were wide with panic and he said nothing, so it was Taylor who turned, smiled, and answered.

"We're okay" she replied. "We'll be back in a moment, I just had to ask him something"

With that, the rest of the group turned back to each other, ignoring the pair in the back of the bus, much to Aiden's relief. Taylor turned back to him.

"Was that..?"

"Not now" he pleaded in a whisper. She nodded in understanding. "And don't mention it to anyone"

"I won't" she promised, managing a small smile. "Come on" she gestured for him to come with her to the front of the bus so they could join the rest of the group. "We look suspicious, huddled back here"

Taylor woke up from their collective nightmare and immediately pulled her phone out, a standard routine.

She could see the usual post-dream activity going on in the group chat, but she temporarily ignored it and went to text Aiden directly.

girltwin: am i allowed to ask?

rubixcubeextraordinaire: Yes its sh scars

rubixcubeextraordinaire: Yes its reesent

rubixcubeextraordinaire: No i dont wannaa tlak about it

girltwin: okay

girltwin: that's okay

girltwin: is there anything i can do?

rubixcubeextraordinaire: Dont tell anyeon

rubixcubeextraordinaire: Includng youer brother

rubixcubeextraordinaire: Please

girltwin: i won't

girltwin: i promise

girltwin: and, aiden?

rubixcubeextraordinaire: Whassup

girltwin: i'm here for you

...

...

...

rubixcubeextraordinaire: Thanks

Chapter Text

Shadow and Tails were out seeing a movie together- A bit of bonding time the two hadn't really had the chance to have.

Since Shadow moved in with Stone, he'd gotten closer with all of the Wachowski's- Now even dating Sonic- But he and Tails hadn't spent much one-on-one time together.

Tails was younger and often liked to keep to himself and his gadgets. Shadow understood the solitary mindset, of course, but it didn't exactly help them talk to each other more.

So, wanting to remedy this, Shadow had invited him out to a movie, an invitation which Tails gladly accepted.

The movie itself was fine but, as everyone was getting up to leave, somebody walking by accidentally tripped and spilled their soda and popcorn all over Tails.

He went completely rigid as he felt the cold, sticky liquid sink into his fur, and pebbles of popcorn cling to his body.

The person was extremely apologetic, but this only made Tails feel worse.

It was all too much.

Shadow saw the panic and overwhelm in Tails' eyes the moment before the fox got up and booked it out of the theater.

It took Shadow a bit to locate Tails, who had run outside of the theater and down the nearest alleyway, but, when he did, he could immediately tell something was very wrong.

Tails was curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth and repeatedly knocking on the side of his head with one hand while his other hand was clamped over one of his ears.

Shadow frowned. He'd had moments like that, where everything was too overwhelming and his brain got set on fire.

He was never the best at comforting people, but he did remember how Maria would comfort him during these episodes.

"It's okay" he said in a quiet tone, careful not to touch the fox and to keep a careful distance. "Are you able to take a deep breath?"

Tails took a big gulp of air and then let out a panicked whine. This is how he continued to slow his breathing. The sound was rather distressing to hear, but Shadow didn't comment on it.

Lord knows he'd bore witness to worse.

Eventually, Tails' frantic motions stopped, and he looked completely wrung out.

"Do you want me to run you home?" Shadow asked, still careful not to touch him. Tails slowly nodded, unable to communicate verbally.

Shadow gently picked up the younger boy in his arms and made a mad dash for the Wachowski household.

By the time he arrived, Tails had fallen asleep in his arms, exhaustion from the meltdown knocking him out.

Maddie opened the door and was immediately concerned upon seeing Tails in Shadow's arms. A million thoughts began to fill her head of what ways her baby had been hurt.

"He had a meltdown"

...Oh

"Okay" Maddie breathed a sigh of relief, taking the fox in her arms. "Thank you for taking care of him and bringing him back" she smiled down at the hedgehog. She left the door open as she walked away, muttering to Tails that she was bringing him to the bathtub- A silent invitation for Shadow to come in.

He thought about it for a moment before gingerly shutting the door and running back to the Mean Bean Cafe.

"Hey, Shadow" Stone greeted with a small smile as his sort-of son returned. "How was your hangout with Tails?"

"The movie was nice" Shadow yawned, going to his makeshift bed. The cafe had already been converted back to their living quarters, which he was glad for.

He was rather tired.

"Well, I'm glad you had fun" Stone replied softly. Shadow nodded and lied down.

He was out the moment his head hit the pillow.

Chapter Text

The Savannah Kids sat in Aiden's living room, discussing their game plan for that night: A game plan that relied heavily on Tyler.

Tyler did not like this. No, the sudden list of demands set upon them made them want to kill someone or claw their skin off (or both), and they very quickly became stressed.

Suddenly, the previously inoffensive lights above them felt blinding and the sound of chatter and clothes shifting made him feel like he was burning from the inside out.

Overwhelmed and no longer really able to control themself, Tyler curled up into a ball and began to hum, knocking on the side of their head with a balled-up fist as they clawed at their chest with their other hand.

The other kids looked at him in confusion and alarm, having not seen him like this before.

Taylor had, of course, but it had been a while and she'd never been particularly good at helping him through these episodes.

It was Ben who took action, silently picking Tyler up in his arms and carrying them up to his room.

He lied Tyler on the bed, where he whined and thrashed, overwhelm taking hold of his body and stripping him of any control.

Tyler took their shirt off, suddenly feeling too hot, and it was here when Ben saw the binder lying beneath.

He could tell what it was for, of course, as the top of Tyler's chest was visible. He supposed it made sense. After all, Tyler and Taylor were identical twins- One of them had to be trans. It just wasn't something that Ben ever really took into consideration, but it didn't change the way he saw him.

He respectfully looked away as Tyler took the binder off, hearing a sigh of relief as they did so.

When he looked back, Tyler was under the covers, asleep, his shirt and binder discarded on the floor next to the bed.

Ben silently kissed the sleeping teenager's forehead and picked up the clothes, neatly folding them and leaving them on the nightstand. He grabbed a pen and pad, of which he had many, and wrote out a short note explaining that he would be downstairs and there was nothing to worry about, and left the note on top of Tyler's clothes.

With that, he shut off the light and left the other boy to rest.

Chapter Text

After Tyler got impaled on the tree, he didn't feel entirely like himself. It was almost like there was an external force taking control over him and his actions sometimes.

The other Savannah Kids did not initially question when he began to act particularly standoffish. This was Tyler, after all. He wasn't exactly known for being nice.

But, as time went by, his attitude got worse and worse, distancing him from the rest of the group, even his own sister.

This all came to a head when he got into a particularly bad argument with Ashlyn during the daytime, which led to him angrily storming off that night in the Realm to blow off some steam.

This proved to be a terrible mistake, though, as he was almost immediately caught by Phantoms.

To his surprise, though, they didn't kill him.

No, they instead brought him to the tree he'd been impaled on.

He felt a deep connection upon seeing it, and the strange force that had taken over his mind suddenly made sense.

"I see you've finally come back" the tree spoke to him. He wasn't sure if anyone else could hear it, but the Phantoms still weren't attacking him, so he supposed that they at least also understood that the tree had power. "Come with me, Tyler"

He did not argue or fight as the Phantoms carried him up on top of the tree.

He expected the pain of being impaled again, but instead he was suddenly falling through a void, watching as the Phantom Realm (and, by extension, his home) faded away.

But he wasn't scared.

No, the tree would keep him safe.

He just knew it.

Chapter Text

Clarisse hadn't really been out and about for a couple days.

This was a relief to many of the other kids in the camp, considering that she had a tendency to be an absolute menace, but Annabeth found herself growing concerned.

Clarisse wasn't one to hide away like this. She was usually out participating in any variety of sports and taking enjoyment in terrorizing other campers, but now she was hardly ever seen except for meal times, where she was unusually quiet and tired.

Something was definitely wrong.

So, Annabeth being Annabeth, she decided to investigate.

She got a few dirty looks as she entered the Ares cabin, but the people of Camp Half-Blood had learned long ago that Annabeth wasn't really the type of person to mess with, so they didn't bother her, even as she approached Clarisse's bed, where the girl was sitting up, pretending to read a book.

"What's going on with you?" the blonde asked flatly. Clarisse didn't respond to this, only vacantly looking in Annabeth's direction. She didn't even seem annoyed, surprisingly. Just really tired.

She reminded Annabeth of herself whenever she dealt with Autistic burnout from constantly masking. But... Wait, she couldn't be. Could she?

"Can we step outside to talk?" Annabeth asked, figuring that, if her growing suspicion was correct, Clarisse probably didn't want to seem weak around the other Ares kids.

She was once again surprised as Clarisse actually nodded and set down her book, following Annabeth out of the cabin. A few Ares campers looked on in confusion, but once again didn't intervene.

Once the two girls were out of earshot of anyone, Annabeth dropped her question- One that Clarisse never thought she'd actually hear.

"Are you on the Autism spectrum?"

Clarisse's eyes widened at this, and her eyebrows furrowed in anger as she looked at the blonde, though Annabeth did not cower the way most campers typically did. Clarisse opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't force herself to talk.

"Would you like to recover in my cabin?" Annabeth offered, Clarisse's reaction serving as confirmation to her suspicion. "Most of Athena's children are Autistic, so you might feel more comfortable there"

Clarisse pointed at Annabeth in confusion, as if to say 'You too?'

Annabeth smiled and nodded. After a moment, Clarisse sighed and nodded her agreement to Annabeth's proposal.

She wasn't quite sure why Annabeth was being nice to her after all the constant torment, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

Maybe I should lighten up on this girl...

Chapter Text

Metal Sonic had malfunctioned one last time.

Dr. Eggman was sick of the constant repairs and maintenance that the robot hedgehog needed. He'd made mecha Sonics before and he could do it again. Because that's all that Metal Sonic was to him, after all. Just another invention.

He wasn't exactly gentle with his kicking out the robot either. Why would he? He was junk. Dead weight.

So, Metal Sonic became quite damaged as his creator threw him out the door, both physically and emotionally.

Maybe he wasn't the best at expressing it, but he did have some level of sentience, and he had seen Eggman as a friend and father figure.

But, now? Now he was reduced to nothing. He was alone and abandoned and had nobody to turn to. Who could he turn to? It's not like he exactly had any friends.

Except...

"Metal?" Breezie asked as she opened her office door, surprised to see the robot standing before her. She hadn't been expecting to see him again, let alone in his regular form, but it was a pleasant surprise. Something wasn't right, though. "What happened to you?"

Metal began gesturing and beeping. Breezie frowned at this. She hadn't realized he couldn't speak in his base form. Still, she wasn't bothered by it.

"Come in" she told him softly, opening the door further to allow the wrecked man into her office.

She sat him down and pulled out her welding tools. Being an ex-Badnik herself, she kept those things on-hand in case she ever got damaged in any way, and she was suddenly very glad she did, as it allowed her to take care of the other bot.

"How come you aren't with Eggman?" she asked him as she gently welded shut his various gashes. He looked away sadly, making her stomach twist in realization. "Did he abandon you?"

The slow, sad nod from Metal broke her heart. He didn't deserve such treatment. Still, she wasn't exactly shocked. Dr. Eggman wasn't really known for being a great guy, after all.

"Well, you can stay with me for as long as you want or need to" she told him, chuckling slightly as Metal visibly relaxed. "Besides, I can't exactly complain with the free eye-candy"

Metal felt his metallic cheeks heat up a bit at this. She wasn't sure what she saw in him, the guy who everyone just saw as a cheap imitation of the real Sonic, but it felt nice.

Really nice.

Chapter Text

Lake was stressed.

Freedom from the train was nice. Living with Jesse was nice (if a bit of a learning curve since it was so different from their life before).

But, lord, the paperwork.

As it would turn out, being a metal person essentially appearing out of nowhere came with legal struggles, and they were getting quite overwhelmed from the various legal hoops they were being made to jump through.

They needed a break.

As it would turn out, this break would come when they officially got their first phone, which gave them a form of escape like no other.

Social media was fun to browse around and kill time. Plus, as it would turn out, people found their appearance cool (though people assumed it was some sort of cosplay).

Not every day that you see a metal person, after all.

Boredom struck particularly hard one day, and this led to a realization.

They knew Tulip's passwords.

They could hypothetically just reach out to the girl, but they were never great at initiating conversations.

So, they did what they felt was the next best option...

...They hacked Tulip's account.

Is it really hacking if I'm technically her double?

Chuckling to themself as they opened up Tulip's social media profile, they took a selfie and posted it to her account, with a link to their own profile below it.

Now that that was done... The waiting game.

...Just...Waiting...

Waiting...

Waitingggggggggggggggggg........

This is boring.

Just then, their phone pinged and they eagerly opened it to see that Tulip had sent them a message.

perennialchild: Hello. I didn't realize you could leave the train. I'd appreciate it if you didn't hack into my profiles, though.

thesteelnb: my bad

thesteelnb: howv u been? better i hope

perennialchild: Yeah, I'm doing a lot better.

perennialchild: How'd you get off the train?

thesteelnb: wellll i met thiss boyyyyyy

perennialchild: Details. Now.

Lake smiled to themself.

They thought they despised Tulip, but no. She was a sweet girl, and their situation wasn't her fault anyways.

It's kind of nice to have a sister...

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It was an odd hour when Mikayla received the text, but that didn't matter.

She hadn't been sleeping very well anyhow, since Tulip disappeared.

perennialchild: Hey

Mikayla stared down at her phone screen, shocked.

mk_ayla: TULIP WTF

perennialchild: Sorry

mk_ayla: GIRL WHERE WERE YOU

mk_ayla: YOU CAN'T JUST DISAPPEAR FOR HALF A YEAR AND THEN COME BACK AND SAY "HEY" WTH

perennialchild: Clearly I can, though

Mikayla couldn't help the small chuckle that left her.

Glad to see her sense of humor is still intact.

mk_ayla: I'm picking you up tomorrow and you're telling me everything

mk_ayla: And then I might kill you

Tulip smiled at her phone.

She felt bad for worrying everyone so much, but it was nice to talk to Mikayla again.

perennialchild: I think I'll survive :)

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