#oc: pen ayton

[home-on-the-wastes]

[14] What does it take to make them laugh, and what does their laugh sound like?

This one wound up being a bit longer than I expected, so I put it under the cut! Full cast of characters includes Harper, Pen, Tallahassee, Murk, and Nate.

Original Prompt List: 60 OC Questions

Harper

Her laughter is all in the nose–her nostrils flare up and her laughter is usually a soft exhale or a “Hee” with a bemused smile. If she’s caught in a good mood, she sometimes snickers or giggles, but with a quiet, almost school-girl-like quality. She definitely has shaking shoulders, regardless of what type of laugh it is, and isn’t opposed to occasionally going, “Ha!” loudly if something catches her off guard and it’s the only way she can respond before she regains her composure. She often laughs at the following:

False flattery; especially when she knows people are trying to put the moves on her or are trying to be overly polite because they’re uncomfortable. It’s definitely a polite laugh, but then it can turn condescending.

Dark humor; this only works with people she feels safe with, like Charon and Butch. Any other dark humor is met with a scowl. The best way to get the most genuine laugh from her.

Kid jokes/humor; she has to be in the right mood, but when kids show up with the most serious attempt to make her laugh, she finds it delightful–and also knows it’s a confidence booster for the kids if they get her to laugh.

Pen

Her laughter is a combination of physicality and sounds–she wheezes and loses her voice, and often claps if the situation’s appropriate. She’s also a full body laugher, often moving around while she does a combination of the first two traits. Pen’s also the type of person who will repeat bits of the joke that she likes to herself later, usually resulting in her starting to try and contain her giggles and chortles. It doesn’t have to be immediately after the joke–it could be hours, or even days later. She usually laughs at the following:

Pratfalls; both hers and others. Pen suffers with balance issues and being clumsy as hell can be embarrassing, so she’s gotten good at laughing at herself when she slips or runs into something unexpectedly. She laughs at others, too, to try and lighten the mood, and go to help them.

Deadpan delivery; the actual subject material varies wildly. It’s less about what’s being said, but how it’s said. She’ll laugh at things that aren’t even supposed to be funny, and it sometimes drives Boone crazy. However, if it’s meant to be a joke or a quip, that will just make Pen laugh harder.

Happy coincidences; the little things in life, like if she gets the last Sunset Sarsaparilla or if she nearly falls but gets caught by her messenger bag strap at the last minute on some rubble. She relishes in her luck and finds joy in it, and joy leads to laughter for her.

Tallahassee

Her laughter is usually a quiet, well-contained chuckle, or a singular “heh,” or “ha.” If you really get her to laugh, it will come out as more of a sensible laugh or chuckle. Her dignified laugh is quickly credited to her being from pre-war times. She actually trained herself to laugh like this to impress her in-laws and her more well-off coworkers when she was younger. She’s almost embarrassed about her laugh, and will hide her mouth and smile when laughing unless she feels like she’s in safe company. She laughs at the following:

False assumptions and overconfidence; this rolls over from her time as a lawyer, and could be described as courtroom humor. When someone says something completely wrong with so much confidence, Tallahassee will let out a disbelieving laugh or chuckle, regardless whether the person is serious or just trying to be silly.

Genuine compliments; these take her by surprise and she often can’t help but let out another surprised laugh. It’s usually more of a laugher of shock or delight than laughter directed at the person, but it can be off putting. She’s aware and tries to refrain from doing so.

Relief; once a crisis has passed, Tallahassee is the kind of person who sits down and starts laughing at her good (or bad) fortune. This is the rarest and most genuine laugh from Tallahassee. She feels like she has to laugh or she would start crying instead, so sometimes a companion will find her sitting on a rock and letting out quiet, exhausted chuckles.

Murk

Surprisingly, Murk doesn’t really have a laugh! She’s more of a silent laugher, and instead grins and shows the physicalities of laughter than actually making any noise. If a noise is made, it’s usually a snort or a sharp inhale of breath before the silent laughter kicks in and she’s indisposed until the laughing passes. She isn’t opposed to going, “Ha!” extremely loudly when it’s appropriate, but that’s more of a conscious decision than a gut reaction. She laughs at the following:

Anger; Murk grew up in a place where people were angry all the time, and she found it easier to laugh at their anger than get frightened or upset. She also genuinely finds it funny when people pull strange expressions or turn different colors when they get angry enough to yell or scream at someone, even if it’s her!

Silly animals; absolutely loses her mind when animals do silly tricks or make odd expressions. Dogmeat is a surefire way to make Murk laugh with his tricks. When she’s out investigating the wildlife, it’s easy to find her if she finds something odd. One time Murk found a brahmin wearing a mirelurk hatching as a hat because it got stuck there and she hasn’t been able to think about it without laughing since.

Others’ laughter; Murk is a social laugher. If other people are laughing about something, she instinctively joins in even if she’s not sure what the joke is. She may not even find it funny, but blending in can be key to survival, so if someone is laughing at something and expects her to, Murk will start laughing immediately. 

Nate

Nate has a proper, sensible chuckle most of the time, like the kind that a movie star would use on the red carpet while being interviewed. However, if you catch him by surprise and get a genuine laugh, Nate will let out a full body laugh, throwing his head back and clutching at his chest like he can’t breathe as he guffaws for a few moments. If you manage to get the second laugh out of him, he can have trouble reigning it in, and may laugh on and off for the next few minutes. Sometimes he’ll go, “Whew!” after he’s done laughing, and might even have watery eyes if he laughed long enough. He laughs at the following:

Silly signs/accidental word play; Nate’s the kind of guy that when traveling, he reads dilapidated or worn out signs out loud if it’s something silly or funny. He found a drive through theater that said ‘Die Thru’ that was infested with feral ghouls, and he almost got torn to shreds because he had trouble containing his laughter. Despite the harrowing experience, the memory still brings him joy, and he definitely points out the signs to other companions to share a laugh.

Over-the-top reactions; This is a skill that Nate uses to make other people laugh, especially kids and teenagers who are upset. However, sometimes he’ll break character and start making himself laugh–and that can make others laugh too, more than his initial bit. Their laughter makes him laugh harder at the absurdity of it all.

Non-violent physical comedy. Silly faces, comedy routines that require a lot of movement, or clowns, make Nate laugh like he’s a kid again. He’s particularly interested in the concept of mimes–he found a book on them once, and would like to meet someone that still practices the lost art. He prefers the type of physical comedy that doesn’t get people hurt–pratfalls and slapstick make him nervous.

[ofgentleresolve-a]

🎭 MASK ✏️PENCIL 🎁 PRESENT (Patrick)

give me chara development or give me death ( ft. oc emoji asks meme w/ @etherealve )

🎭 MASKS - do they act differently around certain people? what’s different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

absolutely! patrick doesn't let a lot of people into his life and even amongst his friends, his walls are never completely down...there are only two individuals whom he completely open(ed) up to, them being a. felicity and b. hyuk.

around most individuals, including his family, he tends to be very mellow, courteous, rational, if not selfless as well. kinda like the 'dad' parent without the nagging part. with friends in particular, he may show a streak of playful here and there!

now if you're felicity and/or hyuk tho, this is where patrick is most like himself- more casual, prone to being very silly and playful ( and competitive too )...and also a tad more demanding and upfront with what he wants :'D

✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them?

"After all, that's what a gentleman does." - it's an iconic line from the professor l*ayton series, but in this case, it's one of the last things felicity says to patrick before she has to return to her own time to the moment of the blast....basically it's patrick's justification if asked for why be a good person.

🎁 PRESENT - what types of presents would they be most happy to receive? are they good at gift giving?

let's start with saying that one should NEVER include the price tag on a gift given because if it's especially expensive, he's going to feel guilty about receiving such a gift sjdkflsjd however, i'd say he does have definite likes and dislikes so sticking with rubik cubes, books, and puzzles in general are safe bets...

however, i think it'd be the most touching to him if one got him one of this lesser known likes including curry puffs and fountain pens. it would show him that you've been paying attention <3

now as for patrick himself, i'd say he's pretty good at gift giving...might go overboard at times with the gift giving, but for the most part he's less of a 'give a ton of gifts' and more of a 'get one good quality gift that he knows the other person will use'

[home-on-the-wastes]

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Harper Donovan (FO3 Lone Wanderer)

Pen Ayton (FONV Courier 6)

Tallahassee Mulligan (FO4 Sole Survivor)

Murk Mathis (FO4 OC)

Nate Williams (FO4 OC)

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[home-on-the-wastes]

Make Up Your Mind (3/3)

Pen returns from the Think Tank. Part 1 // 2 // 3

She hadn’t gotten far. She was curled up on the hotel stairs, head between her knees, cigarette pack discarded, and a broken plastic lighter in her hand. She was crying but trying to be quiet about it out of frustration or–

Oh.

“Pen,” he said again, soft.

“I can’t make it stop,” she muttered. “Brain’s too loud, everything’s too loud. When I fall asleep I think I’m under the knife again. First–first the Sierra Madre, and now this–”

“Hey, easy,” Boone replied. He sat down next to her on the top step, giving her about an arm’s width of space. 

“And I don’t even have any chems because my stash is back at the Lucky 38 and I can’t even light the stupid cigarette–”

“Pen,” Boone said again. He elbowed her until Pen finally gave in, and she leaned on him, using him to support her tired body. She awkwardly tried to avoid touching him more than she had to. At first, Boone was offended, but then he remembered how careful Pen was around people who didn’t like being touched. She wanted, no, needed the comfort, but she didn’t want to ask too much of him.

“Goddamnit,” Boone muttered before he scooted up into Pen’s space so she wasn’t craning her neck so hard against him. She sagged with relief, still mindful, but the skin-on-skin contact didn’t feel as bad as he thought it would. She was burning up from stress, dehydration, or maybe even detoxing from whatever chems or alcohol she shoved into her system, but the heat was also relief. She was here, alive.

Boone took comfort in that.

[home-on-the-wastes]

Characters react to…the Vault-Tec rep! 📋 ✏️

Shout out to my partner who asked this question; I had a lot to say about it.

Harper wouldn't really pay him much mind other than the fact that he's a pre-war ghoul. Maybe chat with him about having experience that didn't really apply to the Wasteland or the Commonwealth (Harper was originally penned to be the vault's chaplain, and he has sales experience. Both feel pretty useless in the Capital Wastes and the Commonwealth, respectively).

Pen just treats him like some guy! She’s less about bonding over the past and more about just hearing his stories. Pen's main thing is listening to folks and empathizing with them, and she has experience with really old ghouls due to Raul (and, to an extent, Dean). She’d buy him a drink, probably cheer him up, and not leave until he was laughing and in higher spirits.

Murk finds him boring and unrelatable--not in a mean way but in an adult that a teenager has no interest in being chummy with. She does feel a little bad about his circumstance, but he's still alive, so what's the problem? Sir, it was two hundred and ten years ago, move on. Find a therapist. C'mon, dude, we all have problems.

Tallahassee, God, she doesn’t know what to do or say. She’s...distant but still polite, especially since he clocks on who she is immediately. She feels awful that she survived and he became a ghoul, a reminder that despite all the shit that she's going through, others had it worse when the bombs fell. It wouldn't be until much later that she'd start interacting with him properly. She'd still keep him at arm's length but try to help him. After all, if it wasn't for his insistence about getting her family signed up for the vault, she wouldn't even be here.

Nate hears about him beforehand, sidles up to him, and goes, “Sir, have I got an opportunity for you." He tries to help this guy. He's very task-oriented, and approaches the problem like, "Okay you're depressed? Let's get you a job! Sales experience, you say? How about you set up a store!" He comes back and checks in on him periodically, just to see how he's doing. Is definitely on a first-name basis with the Vault-Tec rep.

[home-on-the-wastes]

Comforting Touch

Pen returns from Zion Canyon, safe and sound, much to Boone's relief.

Pen was tanner now, sporting a few new scars, a few old ones reopened and patched up. Pen had a new, beat–up black-brimmed hat to keep the sun off her shaved head. She somehow had managed to fit it on her head before activating the halo she had gotten from Big MT, making her look like some sort of Old West angel. All she needed now were wings.

“Boone!” she cried out, holding her arms out in greeting. She couldn’t wave without risk of falling over; she carried a duffle bag in one hand, had three new ones strapped to her back, and a briefcase in the other, probably filled to the brim with weapons, gear, weird junk she had scooped up to sell.  “ED-E!” 

ED-E beeped, whirled, and sped towards her, stopping just so they could lightly bonk foreheads together. She dropped the duffle bag and briefcase to hold ED-E between her hands and tilt him from side to side. “Lemme look at ya. He took good care of you, little buddy?” ED-E chirped in confirmation.

“We just did some light work and patrolling,” Boone began to say before suddenly being lifted up and hugged so tight that his spine popped. He went to resist at first, scrambling to push away, but before he could find a way to do so, she had set him back down, hugged him again, and pressed a dry kiss to his brow. He froze, feeling a warm stir in his chest, but she pulled back before he could ask or act on it. She had moved on–picking up the duffle bag and the briefcase again and slowly meandering south. Then she grinned at Cass, gave her a wink, and a congenial elbow bump since her hands were full again.

The place where Pen had held him and kissed him tingled. Boone quickly adjusted his hat and glasses and followed after her. Cass gave him a knowing look, a brow arched underneath her cowboy hat. Pointedly looking away, Boone asked, “Where–where is the rest of the caravan?”

Pen let out a deep sigh that was probably hiding there the entire trip and leaned back, letting her back crack, standing to her full, towering height for a brief moment. To the sky, as if she had a personal vendetta with the sun, Pen said, “You would not fucking be-lieve what happened. C’mon. Let’s get drinks, I’ll fill you all in.”

[home-on-the-wastes]

Make Up Your Mind (2/3)

Pen returns from the Think Tank. ----- Part 1 // 2 // 3

She didn’t sleep. Boone could hear her ragged breathing, trying to get comfortable and calm down, but she shifted and turned on the mattress. With a frustrated, borderline hysterical huff, she sat up and leaned forward on the edge of the bed. 

“Pen,” he called softly, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Shit, did I wake you?”

“No.” He hadn’t been able to fall asleep anyways. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Pen sucked in a breath.

“Can I–” she faltered, unsure how to ask for what she wanted. Boone watched her silhouette carefully. “Can–can you come up here? Like, take half of the bed?”

Boone frowned.

“Or, can I move down there? I just–need to know that there’s another person here. Y’know? I–” She went quiet again. “Never–never mind, I’ll–maybe a smoke will help–”

“No, no, stay,” said Boone. He got up and sat on the bed's other side, careful not to move into Pen’s space. It all felt wrong. She wasn’t supposed to be in his room in the first place, but now he crawled under the covers, and she hesitantly did the same. They lay facing away from one another, backs to each other, and Boone tried and failed once again to go to sleep. Pen still wouldn’t fall asleep either–he could hear her breathing, still panicked. Occasionally a muscle twitched, and a limb jerked from a nerve firing off confused or out of sorts. She shifted and moved the blanket–was she always this restless before?--and finally, she got up again. Didn’t even say goodbye, just stepped out and shut the door behind her, making sure it was locked.

Boone tried to fall asleep again, this time in the safety and privacy of his room, but he found himself staring at the ceiling. 

“Fuck,” he whispered before he got up to go after her.

[home-on-the-wastes]

Make Up Your Mind (1/3)

Pen returns from the Think Tank. ----- Part 1 // 2 // 3

Stains and tears marred the patient's gown, tightly tied in the back over the strange suit. Pen took a deep breath in the bathroom mirror and washed her face. The steam wafted up and covered the mirror, hiding her bloodshot eyes. A new scar ran perpendicular to the lighting explosion of scars from her temple, from one temple to the other, like someone took a piece of chalk and drew a line.

Boone had many questions but finally settled on, “What happened?”

Pen huffed and scrubbed again, the water near scalding. As she leaned forward, she dipped her head. Another scar peaked out from the suit’s collar, trailing down from the base of her skull.

“Where do I even start?” Pen reached back and tried to undo the laces of the patient's gown, but her hands were shaking so bad she couldn’t grip the strings. “Fuck.”

“I got them.” The knots needed to be cut with Boone’s combat knife–Pen had tied them so tight there was no undoing them. Underneath the patient gown, the suit got stranger–a large, metal triangle on the back had groves like it was part of a spine. The metal pieces eventually peeled off with various clicks and hisses of pressure releasing, and then she stripped out of the black leather.

She had so many fresh scars. The tip of the one Boone saw peeking from her collar reached down her spine to her pelvis. Needle marks littered her forearms and thighs. She wiped the steam from the mirror, and her chest had more scarring, similar to heart surgery.

“I was a lab rat,” Pen explained. Boone hadn’t realized he was staring. Pen probably couldn’t tell that he was, but she made eye contact with him anyways. “These old world scientists. They…took parts, and I got them to put them back. That’s the long and the short of it.”

“Are–are you okay?”

That was a stupid thing to say, but Pen just smiled.

“I am now. I’m gonna shower, gonna eat something that isn’t made out of paste, and then…yeah.” She shrugged. “Yeah.”

[home-on-the-wastes]

The gang's take on...

Alcohol and Chems 🍺💊

Tallahassee; Only occasionally drinks, even before the war. Her family has a history of addiction, and she’s not in a hurry to get addicted to something when it feels like the entire world’s trying to kill her. Tallahassee only drinks in areas she considers “safe,” like Diamond City, Goodneighbor, or the Castle post-reclamation. When she does drink, she mainly sticks to beer and wine. Only drinks whiskey when she’s stressed, it’s a habit she picked up when she was younger. Doesn’t use chems beyond stim-packs due to her husband’s experiences with them and the various cases she handled when she was a lawyer that involved them. Prefers to stay sharp and keep her wits about her, even if some of the chems could help sharpen those wits.

Harper; Her dad was a doctor, so you know she’s hesitant about taking chems and drinking when she first leaves the vault. She loosens up a bit over time and doesn’t mind alcohol one bit, even though she doesn’t have a great tolerance for it. A lot of fun at parties once she loosens up a bit, where alcohol is usually required. The only chems she takes beyond the basic stim-packs are orange mentats, and that’s when she’s on a stakeout or out hunting. They help keep her focused and sharp and don’t have addictive properties, so she has no issues going through an entire pack on long stake-outs. A strong believer in liquid courage.

Murk; Has experimented as an average teenager does but discovered that she doesn’t like the taste of alcohol unless it’s added with something like a Nuka Cola, and she hates the crash after most chems. Primarily uses berry mentats for studies (she likes the taste), Med-X for experiments or right after a battle (she has a low pain tolerance), and isn’t opposed to a puff of Jet when really stressed. Will not use Psycho except in life-or-death situations. The last time she was on it, she had a bad time and isn’t in a hurry to repeat it. Always carries at least one of each chem, though, for others. She also has a small stash of Addictol, since she’s paranoid she’ll get hooked and become a junkie.

Nate; Is a social drinker and loves chatting with folks after he has a beer or two. Made it his life goal to try all the different booze of the Commonwealth, though, so he’s excited when he finds a new bottle of something he hasn’t tried before. Mainly sticks to Buffout and Jet when it comes to chems; Buffout helps him with strength and endurance when he’s helping build things in settlements, and Jet’s always helpful in a fight. Stays away from Psycho, stating he had a bad reaction to it, but will use it if a fight gets tough. Has gotten addicted to chems once or twice but relies on good detox plans and does his best to monitor himself for symptoms. He can’t help folks if he’s barfing up his guts in the woods somewhere.

Pen; Takes ALL the chems, and drinks a fair amount of alcohol. No one knows how she’s still alive. She’s been addicted to every chem at once, detoxed, and then did it again. It drives her family insane because despite being a junkie, she operates roughly the same sober as she does intoxicated. Even Pen’s not sure how she’s still alive after all the stuff her body’s been through, self-afflicted or otherwise. Chalks it up to sheer determination, but it even gives the scientists at Big MT pause. More tests are needed, but ironically, Pen’s afraid of needles not held by her. Believes she’s supporting the Fixer economy in the Mojave Wasteland.