#man it was a blast to write johnny i wanna get him and rubens together arghhhh

[calbeloved]

Trick or Treat!!!!

I'm going to ask about my guy Johnny, but knowing that's unlikely Arthur is the backup <3

hiiii factorial :333 just for you a little thing about johnny i wrote specifically for this AND a wip of an arthur pov from a Thing (that i haven't worked on for. a long time now. it's also an au. obviously.) i hope i did johnny justice shsh he's such a guy i adore him

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In retrospect, maybe working for the Order did give him something good. No matter how it came along… a reason to live; some task he has to do before he dies is what he was looking for.

…technically. Relatively.

It… maybe was?

But in his defense, there really isn't a lot an orphan with nothing to his name can do after being kicked out of a place he once called home on the day of his 18th birthday.

Johnny was good in the Order. Not perfect (oh, he was far from that) and not the best and a lot of times more of a burden and an annoyance than not, but… He did his job. He saved some people. Pushed some civilians out of harm's way.

He just wasn't good enough. He understands that. He knows that was always how it was going to end. Too much blood on his hands, too much stupid things he said without thinking, too much impulsive decisions, too little work done correctly.

He's just surprised they only moved him to do undercover work.

He should be dead. Or fired. Or… whatever the Order does with their ex employees.

Instead, he's sitting in an apartment (a nice, warm place without any mold- maybe it shouldn't be as surprising as it is, but Johnny still dreams of a room too small, filled to the brim with little kids sleeping all around him; so overwhelmingly hot yet so cold, with the cold breezes of wind coming in from windows that could never truly close) on a bed, in a room that's his.

It's still weird to think about. Naluti is still cooped up in his own room (two whole rooms are inside the apartment!); even when Johnny was cooking dinner, he didn't come out. Just murmured something from behind his door that Johnny took as a “I'll make my own food later".

That's whatever. It's not like he cares about the guy. They just have to work together. Just like he did before with every other person in the Order.

…and yet.

On the laptop open in front of him is a tutorial on how to make a flamingo in origami. Around him are countless other origamis; unfinished works that he deemed unsalvageable and paper cranes and butterflies and fortune tellers…

Is it embarrassing? He doesn't know. It probably is.

His hands shake and he knows… Ruben? his housemate doesn't like it when he keeps his hands occupied with a gun, and all online articles say to do something repetitive and calming and how hard folding paper can really be?

…it is a little bit.

Most of the papers around him are not in his hands because he messed up with them.

But he'll be damned if this flamingo doesn't come out perfect. He's been rewatching the tutorial for hours and the pink scraps of paper on the floor are telling just how long he's been on it.

…maybe he could give it to Rubens (Natuli /Rubens,/ that's the name, he /knew/ he could remember it) when he's done. No point keeping all of this to himself, right?

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^ (inspired by me getting into origami again... id like to think he'd enjoy it and maybe do some with rubens when they'd get closer.... they're just sooo)

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and have a littleee piece of the wip of arthur now; it's an au where gal is imprisoned in the order but shrinks into a child instead (simply because i like time stuff) and one of the things im very 💥💥💥💥 about

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There's now a commotion behind him- someone screams something, someone runs out of the room, someone does something, someone, someone…

Arthur does not pay attention to it. He drops to the ground and with wide eyes (where, where, where-) looks.

…Under the bed is a child. It's a small child, chest heaving with sobs while trying to make themselves as tiny as possible. They're bleeding, covered in bruises, and-

Oh God.

And then- hands on Arthur's shoulders, pulling him away; screaming again, so much screaming-

There is a child on the floor, crying and trying to hide away, they're hurt and- he needs to help, why are people pulling him away, this isn't right, this isn't-

“Stop! Stop, stop, wait-!” He screams- sees the child flinch, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, just wait-

It's Dante. Of course it's Dante. Gray hands dig into his skin, dragging him up and away- “Arthur! What's going on?!”

But he cannot answer, he can't- this kid needs him, why are they hurt, why are they here-

Somewhere further away, someone shouts. “Where is he?!”

Footsteps on the floor; running… That's Joui, Arthur knows Joui…

And there's a gun- there's a lot of guns, a lot of weapons-

“Stop! Just stop! Be quiet!”

They do- at least enough for Arthur to think, even through the fast breathing (just Dante, he can always recognise Dante…) in his ear.

He shrugs out of Dante's grip, crouches down again, ignores Joui- he's so angry, so, so angry again…

“Hey, hi,” he half whispers, half saps out. Kids. He knows how to deal with kids. Kids are easy. “I'm sorry, everyone here is very loud, huh? You're okay, nobody is going to hurt you…”

The kid looks at him; teary eyes, bloody nose, biting their hand to keep quiet…

Joui crouches down next to him. He takes in the sight and glances at Arthur with wide eyes. “Arthur.”

There's something that he's supposed to get from that tone. He knows that. But… there's a kid, how can he focus on anything else?