#anyways all of this to say all of n✧g is autistic who is surprised

[drop--pop--candy]

n✧g LEAST favorite foods go

for some reason my immediate first thought upon reading this ask was "cactus"?????? that is not any of their answers my brain just works in very odd ways

for no reason except the Vibes i think Chika HATES mushrooms. like absolutely cannot stand them. also pickles. "if it's slimy it does not belong in food" -chika probably (im projecting)

Haruka,,,,, i think Haruka hates any food that combines too many sensations??? if that makes sense???? like she doesn't like foods that are sweet and spicy or savory and sweet. i think she even has problems with sweet and salty sometimes like she expects things to pretty much be one category of flavor and nothing else

Maho doesn't like bland food. any kind really. trying to eat any of chika's safe foods would probably put her into a coma /silly

Misaki doesn't like steak very much. steak and asparagus was her family private chef's default meal when she didn't choose any specific dinners for the week and it always tasted the same. as such Misaki goes out of her way to eat both of those foods as little as possible

[grison-in-space]

honestly so much of the way we conceptualize autistic special interests is predicated on there not being anyone who shares them with us? and like. have you met humans. have you talked to any autistics. because lots of them are pretty interesting actually! and autistic people are often pretty good at infecting you with their interests so that you share them too even if you're not as motivated to fixate happily on them for their own sakes!

huge whorls of autistic-generated human communities exist, and people who aren't used to autistic people never seem to realize that Yes Those Are Also Autistics, often because people are used to autistic special interests occupying some very limited contexts like Computers because Computers were a big new societal innovation and community spinning up right when people also started thinking about autism as a Distinction Among Humans. Also Pokemon. And the Internet. Nineties kids know what I mean, eh?

anyway here are some heavily autistic communities that allistic people never seem to realize tend to concentrate autistics and be driven by them:

every non-commercial domestic animal fancy ever, including dog, cat, pigeon, chicken, and horse people; also includes a fair chunk of the commercial kinds but there are slightly less of these

fandom of any kind (for some reason--it's misogyny--no one seems to realize that this also applies to female-slanted forms of fandom focused on storytelling and modification as well as male-slanted ones that involve information curation)

religion. especially any kind that involves any kind of organization--less the charismatic ones that involve manipulating other people, more the kind that draw people interested in the way that religion works. less/more is not all/none.

kink and sexuality generally and also gender. we think a lot. it's a problem. and we get snagged on stuff. plus sensory shit ties into everything. just saying. e v e r y t h i n g.

academia. look we get. we get interested in things. if you get interested enough in things people call you an expert and sometimes they give you money. money is nice. it lets you buy more objects of special interest.

acting. we wear masks all the fucking time and we get caught up in it. which makes you think about structure, eh?

comedy. ditto.

building shit. admittedly the allistics have largely noticed that engineers concentrate us by now but it has taken a surprisingly long time to realize that this also applies to other, older crafts.

fibercrafts and textiles. what about "we like textures and also figuring out how things work" is a surprise to you. also math. again the answer to how the allistics keep failing to notice this one is "there's lots of ladies in there."

I bet I'm missing plenty that I'm just not thinking of but my god, man, look at how many of these things touch us! look at how they shape our understanding of one another and ourselves! how cool is that

[catboyithaqua]

Ramuda and Doppo :0

OH MY BOYS LETS GO

Under a cut bc long

Ramuda Amemura

First impression

Baby boy baby. Very cute and sweet i love characters with ramudas aesthetic i tend to want to protect them, especially since its an aesthetic that i fall into myself and lo v e so kseidjsnfn YEAH this man is baby!!!

Impression now

Ohhh my god i love this man i love the way he is characterised he is so incredibly interesting as a character and tbh so realistic and honestly i adore him!!! I alarmingly see a lot of myself in him tbh, were incredibly similar and that isnt necessarily a good thing!! But still i love this man

Favorite moment

Oh man where tf do i BEGIN there are so many ngl, but mostly all of the moments where we see ramuda's humanity. There is still a sweetness left under the darkness, there is still a man who wants to cling onto everything he has - his emotion, his internal battles, his morality vs his desperate need to survive - oh fucking man so much.

Idea for a story

CAN WE FUCKING. HAVE RAMUDA TALK HIS SHIT OUT PLEASE can we just have others actively helping ramuda cAN THIS MAN PLEASE BE SHOWN THAT ITS NOT TOO LATE FOR HIM,,, PLEASE,, i just want ramuda to finally talk out everything and have people on his side. Please.

Unpopular opinion

This probs isnt unpopular by any means, but idk what else to put here so take this:

I dont really see it often discussed that yknow ramuda is an abuse victim. Like, its very clear that chuokhu uses and abuses him, and his life is constantly being hung over his head. No wonder the dude is doing anything he can in order to survive, he has no choice in that regard. Before i get told this in the notes yes i know this doesnt excuse the things hes done!!! But tbh i really think that like the trauma that ramuda is living with kinda needs to be addressed.

Favorite relationship

I am a huge multishipper and have found a way to ship ramuda w just about most people (that are adults and not in chuokhu lol) so this is pretty tough

Id say either fling poly or jkrm and these are my reasons lets go:

Fling poly: HAVE YOU S E E N THEM do i really need to say more here all three of them have such good chemistry together, theyre all clearly on the same wavelength and have such a wonderful dynamic,,, they found out about the clones and shit and they STILL chose to protect ramuda and to fight for him and with him and to stay by his side aND BLACK JOURNEY TOO I-- IM GONNA START SOBBING,,,

Jakuramu: this one is not based on canon too much i am sorry this is mostly hc but i am a huge sucker for enemies to lovers ok also, i feel like out of TDD these two would be the ones to reconcile. After all, jakurai is a rather empathetic man and he probably would def understand the situation that ramuda was in. After all this dude was an ex assassin, if ramuda was to tell him everything, im sure that he would be able to relate to yknow the time he took others' lives, people with families and friends that he killed because he was ordered to and most likely had no other choice. Of course, jakurai is well within his right to not forgive ramuda for what happened to yotsutsuji, but i feel like he would and would help him get out of the situation hes in,,, and also im soft for the TDD era ok like how jakurai WANTED TO KNOW THE REAL RAMUDA AND LIKE,,, even when ramuda snapped at him he was GLAD HE WANTSD TO KNOW HIM FUCK MAN,,, i just really like these two ok

Favorite headcanon

I have quite a lot of hcs! Here are a few and like some explanation as to why:

- hes trans - i personally believe this bc personally itd make sense. Ramuda has a very feminine appearance and build, those that are like typically common in asian countries. As well as that, he has his own autonomy unlike the other clones. It wouldnt surprise me if chuokhu orignally wanted to make a girl to keep the other divisions in check, but when he decided personally that he didnt want to be such a way, they said sure, more room for us to treat you as we want to. Hes got money, getting T wouldnt be that difficult for him either, so thats why his voice is. That way fiaudjsnfnd anyway i think it makes sense!! Idk--

- he has bpd - projection probably but the biggest inspiration for this headcanon is how he is emotionally. His swings are violent - he feels and expresses such a diverse range of emotions and its so easy for him to change his emotional disposition - whilst also mostly feeling totally empty. Relationship wise also, given how he was genuinely really close to jakurai and then completely splitting on him, h a t i n g him. Yeah that sounds like bpd to me chief i know i have it!!! Theres more ik there is but i cant pull up examples rn

- hes neurodivergent - again mostly projection honestly and like there isnt much of a canon basis in his behaviour, just little things, but i like to personally hc that aside from eating candy to stay alive duh, that he chooses lollipops bc they serve as a sort of stim?? Also ik that fashion is his job but hes also so so clearly passionate about it that its a special interest for him, and thats partially why he took it up as a job in the first place, so he could do something related to his special interest lol. Idk i know there isnt any basis for this but just let me have autistic ramuda iaiesjdnsnfn

Doppo Kanonzaka

First impression

Now THATS what i call a tired mf!!! This dude has yves saint laurent eyebags also he really reminds me of aggretsuko somehow??? Im really not sure what it is

Impression now

Yeah i was def right with the aggretsuko comparison siaishsnshfb BUT I LOVEEE HIM i love him very much and i think this man really needs a break and is also very relateable i love

Favorite moment

As much as i love fp i absolutely adore the badass koments that doppo has including when he absolutely fucking obliterated fling posse sksjxnxncn also!! All of his little moments with hifumi i genuinely enjoy their dynamic its so cute

Idea for a story

Honestly i wanna see him slowly recover from the teauma that he has experienced because this king absolutely deserves it, and also from a practical point of view itd make this mf s t r o n g e r i also just.... long to see doppo happy honestly he deserves to smile!!

Unpopular opinion

I dont really have an unpopular opinion but saving like leaving this blank: as much as i absolutely adore jakurai and hifumi and their music (jakurai is my fave out of every hypmic character and i WILL drive this home), to me doppo just has the best music. Like, i love tigridia and BLACK OR WHITE so fucking much its absolutely unreal and all of doppos verses in every song are juust so fucking good. As much as i listen to you are, therefore i am on repeat every day of my life doppos music is just the best ✨

Favorite relationship

Again i am a huge multishipping bitch and i habe a few ships with doppo but in ahll honesty my fave is very clear - i absolutely adore his dynamic with matenrou as a whole and especially hifumi - his relationship with hifumi is clearly so special and it really shows how strong their friendship is, and in a ship sense i find it to be realy cute bc theres such a clear need for each other and that even if they clearly come at odds sometimes, at the end of the days theyre still clearly so close and i just,,, god doppo reallt deserves someone like hifumi in his life and im so glad that he has it!!!!

Favorite headcanon

Honestly i dont really think i have too many for doppo but given his general demeanor and his attitude, i personally hc him as demi. Yeah i know that sexualities dont have like typical personalities and such but i feel like given his anxieties around new people and how he clearly only really sticks to those that hes very close with, it makes more sense for him to be demi than any other sexuality to be quite honest - and this is also just pushing my hifudo agenda aiqiauansnssn but yknow!!!!

[catsnraincoats-archive]

Y'all should know at this point I can and will live and die for Autistic!sides.

But

Consider

Autistic!Remy. (With a hint of losleep because Lia made me adore that ship.)

(Shut up I know this has been done before but this is My Brand™)

Remy who wears sunglasses because heck that light is PAINFUL ouch.

Remy who, despite an utter lack of patience for those damn lights, usually needs l o u d sounds and all that jazz, so he gous out in the city and with friends a lot.

(A l s o Yes, a need for loud/brash sensory input is a thing and it's not only needing minimal sound/light/etc. This is why they say autism is a spectrum you burnt-out candles)

Remy who Always Gets The Same Starbucks Order and Always Goes On The Same Day Of The Week because he'll sooner sleep on time than fuck up the schedule.

^^^ On that note, when Anxiety is there it meeses up the plan he had for sleeping that night so b y e , b * t c h ,

The leather jacket he always wears? Its a stim, hun. L o v e s the texture and weight on his shoulders.

RSD where he thinks "Oh man Thomas is Annoyed™. Looks like I gotta g o. See ya, gurl." And yeets off.

Remy who fixates on something for HOURS and suddenly oh hey look at that its four AM.

....

Why not just continue looking into this article on production of faux leather jackets

Remy who can and will ramble about the production of faux leather jackets with anyone and everyone who will listen.

"Listen, hun, have you HEARD about this new production company? Like, damn, I thought that those old ones were something but then--"

Leading him to Logan, because he's the only one who'll listen.

So they go on for hours and hours nearly every night of day and Logan seemed genuinely interested!

And, yes, Remy lets Logan talk about NASA or his new interest because he's a good friend, okay?

.... Remy who starts to feel smth for Logan but, like, its not Romantic™?? So what??

(And that's what you missed on Trouble In Regulating Emotions, babe,)

Yadda yadda yadda time goes on and hey would you look at that Logan's newest interest happens to be on different types of relationships.

"So, as I was saying, it turns out many cultures actually value the concept of--"

"Hey gurl,"

"Hm? Yes, Remy?"

"Is there, like, something that's not romantic? A relationship like that?"

".. Do you mean a sort of friendship? I was actually just--"

"Ugh, no, not that. Not a friendship, not a relationship, but something... Else. Ya feel me?"

"Oh! Are you referring to a QPR? Yes, I--"

Remy, the queen of inturruptions,

"A QPR?"

Time goes on and Logan explains it. Remy's SO surprised that That Is A Thing

Anyway this w a s n o t a losleep post so I should probably wrap it up but yes they do get together.

.. Unexpected and mandatory losleep tag: @sleepless-in-starbucks

[bytemycupcakes]

Changeling!Pabit AU

I said I was makin a post and I don’t care that nobody seems interested in him cause I love this little puppet boy and wont stop making aus for him.

Under a cut cause l o n g e

--

-Pabit only ever remembers Boris as his caretaker

-Not unusual for a changeling, really but it’s true

-Boris always says he just found Pabit on a walk. People usually take that as a joke, but he’s being serious.

-Ya see, Pabit wandered a bit too far from the fae as an infant, and Boris almost tripped over him on a walk in the woods.

-Boris picked up this strange little faerie baby, they made eye contact, and Pabits body shifted to resemble Boris.

-Well fuck I guess Boris has a kid now. The thought of calling the local orphanage doesn’t even cross his mind, it’s really just, “Ah fuck I found a kid.. Guess I’m a dad then”

-Really the fact that Pabit seemed to latch onto and form to look like Boris didn’t help with that train of thought.

-It didn’t take long at all for it to click in Boris’ head that Pabit wasn’t human. Obviously the whole shapeshifting thing, but this child was practically FERAL.

-In a non-babyproofed home, Pabit wreaked havoc. Being a master at hiding, scuttering Boris’ walls, and getting into everything, especially things that a baby shouldn’t be touching.

-It took ages for Boris to get the house at least somewhat Pabit-proofed.

-Pabit still manages to get into shit constantly, it’s like a talent.

-Just like Child!Au, Pabit is not Pabit’s actual name, it’s a name he gained later on because of how much he mimics Boris. (Whats his actual name? No idea)

-Pabit’s gender was literally assigned. He doesn’t have typical human anatomy, being completely androgynous, and thus Boris just... -stamps Pabit with “boy” sticker-

-By the time of the habitat, Pabit id’s as masc non-binary

-Boris considers the day he found Pabit as his birthday, not actually knowing how old he was when found, he counts up from that date, thus where Pabit being 15 comes from.

-Pabit is so tall both because he is fae, and because his body mimics Boris for its aging. So he’s just.. so fucking tall.

-Pabit has a shadow form, but didn’t seem to gain one until he first saw Boris do it when he was a toddler.

-For awhile he’d just randomly shift to it, until his subconscious realized it was primarity an anger-based “transformation”

-While Boris’ shadow form is just intense anger, Pabit’s becomes almost like a rage. As his body grows to adapt most of his non-human ability (strength and some subtle basic magic) into said form.

-Depending on the source of anger, Pabit can be incredibly destructive or eerily calm but a ticking bomb.

-Even Boris gets a bit scared when Pabit shifts to the form... One too many times he’s had his house demolished from this child- Or even being injured by the rage (Nothing serious, but more damage than an 8 y/o should be able to give a grown man)

-From a very young age Pabit always showed signs of adhd/autism. Though he doesn’t technically have these conditions because he’s fae, he’s found comfort in knowing he’s not just really weird, and if people ask about it, he and Boris will just say he has ADHD and/or is autistic*

*[Lil step back: This whole au exists because I heavily project my adhd onto Pabit. And my girlfriend, who is autistic, loves the changeling trope (We even call her one fairly often). So please don’t get hateful about this]

-Boris was always pretty open about Pabit not being human, never tried to hide it from him. He grew up as the outcast and couldn’t figure out why, he’s not gonna let his son feel that same lost and broken feeling.

-Pabit tends to speak in broken sentences. He can speak in full, but feels more comfortable doing more of a Hulk speech pattern. Thus he often talks in third person, and leaves out words he deems unneeded to understand the sentence.

-He’ll fall into proper speech when ranting or infodumping, though. Speaking much more like Boris, with proper and large words.

-He stutters over bigger words a lot, and sometimes gets frustrated and just uses “dumbed down” language in its place (this is how he’ll describe it)

-Pabit has a major hyperfixation of puppetry and puppet making, and a smaller one on musical theatre/acting.

-There is Pabit, and then an actual puppet Habit. It was a gift for fathers day, and though it’s not as pretty as the irl puppet, it’s still pretty damn good for a 15 y/o with claws. Boris keeps it on a shelf in his office, it’s Pabits favorite out of all the puppets he’s made.

-Pabit will nab it and, using Boris’ desk as a stage, will just talk to Boris as “Boris”.

-Boris finds this absolutely adorable, and goes along with it. He’s made several business deals with this puppet. Usually for teeth.

-Which yes, Pabit eats. (No Pabit au is complete if he doesn’t eat teeth, fight me.)

-Pabit stims. A lot. His most common stims are kicking, bouncing, or wiggling his legs, chewing (Yes teeth eating is a stim for him, but he mostly goes for more rubbery textures), hand flapping, and full body wiggling/bouncing. He’ll also play with his hair, but it’s not as common.

-Pabit will occasionally repeat things, usually funny things he hears while giggling.

-Pabit’s hair is so stupidly thicc and curly that no stylist in town will deal with it.

-Boris has learned to cut hair, which comes in handy more often than you’d expect in a house of two very long-haired people.

-aka: Pabits hair grows so fucking fast, its ridiculous.

-His hair sticks together so much that it almost acts like one solid pillow-like mass. No hairtie can contain it. (If it’s tied back, it’s usually an actual string litterally tied around his hair)

-Pabits ears can emote, they don’t move much, but it’s noticeable. They wiggle when he gets really heccin happy.

-Pabit’s pupils alwas seem to be slitted, but at general shock (among other various things) his iris’ will slit aswell, leaving Pabit with a line in some massive sclara’s.

-Pabit has gotten very good at sewing thanks to his love of puppet making. This becomes very useful since he usually has to tailor his clothes slightly.

-In the habitat proper, Pabit is surprisingly popular with all the kids. Most notably Tim Tam and Trevor.

-He knew Trevor (And of Nat) before the habitat. He and Trevor are classmates while Nat is in the class behind them.

-Trevor didn’t really acknowledge Pabit’s existence until he bit a bully and seemed to break skin effortlessly??? hmmmmmmmm.

-Thus Trevor started theorizing, nothing in depth, but the kid was on his radar.

-Trevor was really surprised to find Pabit in the habitat, and even more surprised when Pabit told him Boris is his dad.

-The most these two ever talked before the habitat was a single “peer review” assignment, but in the habitat they start talking a lot more cause they’re the oldest kids, know eachother a bit, and both need to infodump like crazy.

-It takes a while for Trevor to get used to Pabits broken speech, but he eventually finds himself mimicing it occasionally. and Pabit will mimic him as well (adhd solidarity, boys)

-Pabit and Tim Tam can communicate non-verbally with no trouble at all. Thus this is used to wreak so much havoc on habititians since they’re both feral little goblins.

-It doesn’t help that Pabit has special access to “employees only” areas since he’s Boris’ son.

-Trevor and Pabit have gone on massive theory rants about random musicals while Nat’s in the room and she just watches these two in confused awe because of all the little details they’ll pull out to support these wild theories.

-Nat seriously has no idea how these two can just. keep. going. It’s been three hours at least let her have a snack!

-Pabit has allowed Trevor to ask so many weird questions about him because Pabit is also very curious about what exactly he is.

-Boris isn’t going to question why Trevor was poking at Pabit’s ribcage with a pen and just let boys be boys.

-Nat supplies Trevor with books on mythical beings she steals from Trencils room.

-Even with the three of them mostly working together, they cant figure out exactly what Pabit is.

-Until they’re all going over it in the boiler room one day. Where Wallus can hear them.

-YES ONCE AGAIN WALLUS IS NOT HUMAN! AGAIN, FIGHT ME.

-Did three children just lure out the frightened janitor cause they’re describing changelings and Wallus, a fae, knows about these kinda things? Yes. Yes they did.

-Wallus really never got a good look at Pabit before he took refuge in the wall, Pabit never got too involved in his work, or his talks with Boris. So Wallus isn’t too surprised that he missed it.

-It takes a bit of courage building from Wallus and Pabit litterally dragging him to Boris’ office before Wallus talks to Boris about how he aquired Pabit.

-Lots of details short: Wallus actually remembers when Pabit went missing which is pretty neat.

-Boris was almost worried he’d lose Pabit to his birth parents... Until Wallus says they didn’t really worry too much cause he was supposed to be put into someones life anyway. Was only mildly concerning since the fae couldn’t keep an eye on him.

-Pabit barely processes any of this information. Same with nearly all fae information Wallus tells him.

-Its not that he doesn’t like it or anything, he just doesn’t really care about the details. He got a name for what he is and why he acts like he does, and now he’s done. Mission complete.

[I wanna type more but my adhd is being MEAN so I’ll stop here for now. Feel free to send me asks about this au tho cause I love it]

EDIT:

-One last thing: Pabit loves the night. He adores the moon. He loves sitting on the roof past bedtime just to stare at the sky

[thewalkingdeadimaginings]

Taming Her Part 2: Her Name

Taming Her part 2--GIRL DO A SECOND PART TO TAMING HER!!! like were Dwight and some of the other members make fun of her when she's learning to speak and spell and ANGRY NEGAN!!

ANOTHER SEQUEL!! 😊 And another Negan one shot too! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Haha I’m nearly through with my backed up one shots and I can get to my current ones much, much quicker. AND HOPEFULLY MORE UPDATES OF NO REGRETS AND BEAUTY OF A SECRET TOO. Also, this is another one shot where I hope you don’t mind I gave this character a name instead of using the usual Y/N. A name just popped up when I thought of this character so thanks for understanding haha :P

As usual, if you’re new here and haven’t read part one to Taming Her, click the link HERE and then come back and read part two! This is the last sequel I’ve been requested to do but if any of you have any one shots you’d love to see a part two for (or a part three to any existing sequels) just let me know 😊

TRIGGER WARNING: the use of the word “retard.” I personally am not offended by the word. With my brother being severely autistic with mental retardation, I’m not really thinking too much about the word BUT I do know some people might find the word upsetting so I just want everyone to be aware that the word is used in this one shot just in case some of you do find it upsetting.

Ever since the girl had said thank you to Negan, she’d gone quiet once more. It wasn’t surprising to him actually. She didn’t know how to communicate with the world around her anymore and no one really knew how to accommodate her. She isolated herself in the private quarters Negan had given her. Normally, he’d toss someone like her into the masses and make her earn points to get what she wanted or needed but he felt an attachment to her. He wasn’t sure what it was but he figured it could be worth pursuing.

If only he could get her to communicate.

Dwight and countless others, annoyed and bitter about the special treatment this girl had been getting kept telling Negan that she needed to start pulling her own weight. Negan knew the girl could handle any task he gave her. She’d snuck up on him, actually gave him a nosebleed and a black eye. She was tough. But she couldn’t even tell anyone her name. How was she expected to do work right now? Or perhaps he just wanted to be selfish and have her to himself.

The girl stuck to Negan most of the time anyway, probably because he was the only one who talked to her even though she couldn’t respond with more than a few positive or negative gestures and facial expressions. Some walked by like she was wallpaper, or they poked fun at her when she wasn’t around. Negan hadn’t actually seen that happen but Sherri had told him about it. If he saw anyone making fun of the girl, he’d shut that down with force.

Over the next few days, the girl was regaining her strength, getting some meat on her bones and some light in her eyes. She was a lot calmer and goddammit she was stunning. Negan just wished he could hear more than just that one “thank you” she’d given him before.

The two of them were eating breakfast together one morning. Negan preferred that she eat alone with him after he heard about a few people making fun of her. It might’ve been a bad idea to hide her from all the inconsiderate assholes but Negan just wanted to protect her for now.

��So, I was thinking,” Negan said to her, “I still don’t know your name. And…you’ve been here a few weeks. You’d say you’re comfortable here, right?”

The girl smiled and nodded. Negan beamed as he placed his large hand over her dainty one, “I’m glad. Maybe we could start trying to relearn how to communicate. What do you think?”

Her smile faded and she looked down at her lap, unsure and anxious. Her hand twitched underneath his. Negan wrapped his hand around hers, squeezing it to get her eyes back on him, “It’s gonna be okay. We can start small, ya know? Like uh…we can relearn how to write. Sound simple enough?”

The girl took a deep breath and after a pause, she slowly nodded. Negan got up and grabbed a notebook and a pencil, pushing their food aside so he could teach her. It took her a while to pick up on it since it had been so long. He couldn’t imagine what she’d been through in her life to make her end up in this state of mind. How long had she been in those woods? Had someone hurt her during her travels? Was this just a result of trauma? He wanted to ask but it might be rude. She might not even know the answer to that.

By mid-afternoon, the girl was writing basic sentences, just some responses to simple questions to make communication somewhat easier for her while she learned everything else. Negan closed the notebook and handed it off to her.

“That’s enough for today,” he declared, “Don’t wanna overwhelm you, darlin’. Can practice in your room if you want though.”

“I-I…” the girl began, clutching the notebook against her chest as she struggled to make the next few words, “I-I-I…w-w-w-wi…will. Th-thank you.”

“You’re learning fast,” Negan chuckled, “Maybe one of these days I can know your name.”

The girl nodded and leaned in to kiss his cheek. With her notebook still held tightly against her chest, she got up from the table and pointed to the door, “B-be-bedroom.”

“Of course,” Negan replied, “You’ve done a lot today. You do need your rest.”

The girl came back every morning to write more and more. She eventually started carrying her notebook around so she could communicate with everyone else. Most of them were happy that she was able to respond to questions and she seemed a lot happier too. But as Sherri had told Negan before, others weren’t as kind.

“Grown ass adult and can’t even talk,” one man said. Dwight chuckled when his friend spoke and it just urged the man to continue, “You a retard or somethin’ girl? The fuck is wrong with you?”

The girl cringed, shaking her head but too flustered to even attempt to say anything. Dwight scoffed, lightly nudging his friend, “Think she might be, man. Hey, since she can’t even say her name, maybe her name should just be Retard, how ‘bout that?”

She took a few steps away, shaking her head again as tears spilled from her eyes. The two men followed her and she started swinging her notebook at them, the animalistic side of her slowly reaching the surface, “N-n-no! G-get away!”

“Look,” Dwight’s friend said, “It speaks!”

Just then, the girl’s miracle came abruptly as the door slammed open and Negan rushed in, pulling on her arm and shielding her with his body. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard from behind that door. The other man wasn’t so shocking but Dwight? Dwight was supposed to be his right hand man. He thought Dwight knew better. He was out for blood now, ready to kill these two. Seeing the terror and stress in the girl’s teary eyes was too much on his heart. Seeing the hurt look on the girl’s face tore him up inside.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Negan boomed, pushing Dwight and his friend down onto the ground, “You think it’s funny that she’s struggling? You think calling her a retard is funny? Why don’t we see what I think is funny?”

It was Dwight and his friend’s turn to be frightened and Negan soaked it in. He wasn’t sure if he was going to kill them or just beat them until they wished he would. In that moment, he didn’t care. He needed to make an example of them so everyone here would know to never hurt the girl again.

As Negan got his bat ready to swing at the men, he felt a delicate tug on his leather jacket. He turned around to see the girl standing behind him, shaking her head desperately, “D-d-don’t…don’t…do it. Just…just let…them…” she waved her hand away to finish her sentence, “P-please…N…Negan.”

Negan’s expression softened when the girl said his name. The sound of her voice, although broken, soothed him, made him feel at peace. It was almost as beautiful as the rest of her. He turned to face the girl, “Dwight, get your friend the hell outta my sight. And you stay away from her from now on, are we clear?”

“Yes, Negan,” Dwight replied quickly before scurrying off with his friend. Negan wrapped his arms around the girl, gently stroking her hair. Her body relaxed in his arms, slowly wrapping her arms around him. She ran her hand up and down his back, her head rested on his chest.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her first complete sentence without a struggle. Negan couldn’t believe how strongly he felt for this girl and he didn’t even know her name. The girl lifted her head, as if reading his mind, “M…my…my…name.”

“You can tell me now?”

“Y…yes.”

Negan smiled, cupping the girl’s face in his hands, “Let’s hear it, darlin’. What’s your name?”

The girl’s lips curled in a smile, licking her lips as she put all her focus into giving Negan her name. She took a deep breath, “My…My name i-is…is…N-N-Natasha.”

“Natasha,” Negan chuckled, pushing her hair off her shoulders, “That’s a perfect name.”

She wrapped her arms around Negan’s shoulders, standing up on her toes to pull him in for a kiss. Negan sucked in his breath, surprised by her boldness but accepting it anyway, squeezing her body tighter in his arms.

“I…I think…I think I…like you,” she mumbled against his lips, “A lot.”

“With a kiss like that, I should hope so,” Negan said with a laugh. She still had so much to learn but he knew she trusted him and that made him so happy. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had made his heart this happy, “I like you too, Natasha. A lot.”

YAY I FINISHED THIS IN ONE DAY SO I DON’T STAY UP LATER THAN I SHOULD POSTING THIS. Hope you enjoyed this sequel you guys!!! 😊