#she forces them into frequent checkups because she doesn’t want to find out too late that something is wrong

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

Nimona headcanons I wrote instead of sleeping

Sometimes the boys forget that Nimona isn’t human 

Like they’re used to the shifting into animals aspect of Nimona because she does it as often as she breathes

But sometimes she’ll do some really creepy shit like make her arms longer to reach something when she’s too lazy to get up

One time they shifted just their neck to be like an owl so they could turn their head 180 degrees instead of just turning around cause that was “too boring” 

Or he’ll mimic people’s voices without realizing it 

Sometimes he’ll tell a story and suddenly he’s using Bal’s voice 

The first time she did this Bal searched the whole house cause he was convinced that Todd has snuck in

Or she’ll grow an extra arm to hold more shit and they take a moment to realize “oh yeah we adopted a little weirdo” 

They get used to it after a while and the arguments surrounding it are always funny because both the boys will complain and say “I don’t sound like that” and they have to be told “No love you do you really do” 

You know those videos of babies reacting to their parents shaving their facial hair or putting on glasses 

That’s Nimona's reaction every single time the boys change their appearance even the smallest bit they cant shave or wear their reading glasses because if they do he freaks out 

Talking some “help me Nemesis I heard bosses voice but I can’t find him” while Bal was standing right in front of them 

It was the first time he shaved his face in years and he’s never doing it again 

Mostly cause Ambrosius kept telling him he looked like a teenager and it was freaking him out 

I feel like Bal and Ambrosius are those kinds of people who will tell people about the little injuries but neglect the big ones 

Like Bal mentioned that he thinks he sprained his ankle during the fight at the institute but he won’t mention that he’s pretty sure he got a concussion 

(BECAUSE THIS MAN HEAD-BUTTED TWO PEOPLE WHEN HE HAS A METAL ARM) 

(I’m bout to wrap this man in bubble wrap and give him a helmet because wtf) 

Ambrosius will complain the whole day about the fact that he has a paper cut

But will completely neglect to inform his doctors “Oh yeah I can’t move my left arm higher than my waist without pain and I can’t see that well out of my left eye or hear that well out of my left ear do you think that’ll be a problem?” 

It isn’t until Nimona makes an off handed comment about how this super weird that the laser did basically nothing to him that he told both of them

They literally dragged him to the ER because “Who thinks those symptoms are normal Nemesis what is wrong in that pretty little head of yours!!” 

When Bal tells Nimona she’s being a bit of a hypocrite (cause who refers to an arrow as a splinter?) she turns to him and says “I know you’re not saying something Mr. Human battering ram” 

It took literally everything in Ambrosius not to break down laughing

After that she forces them to have frequent checkups with the doctor because these dorks wouldn’t go otherwise

Honestly I'm fully convinced that some people in the kingdom don't know who Nimona is and are constantly confused why they let this little weirdo follow them around 

And finally the curiosity will eat away at them and they’ll finally ask 

Sometimes the boys will give some “normal” answers like “Oh that’s Nimona” and they won’t elaborate at all

Sometimes they’ll give funnier answers like “Oh that’s a raccoon we found in the garage who turned into a person one day” “I don’t know they just showed up in our living room” and their personal best “You see her too?” 

And their favorite that they only started using a couple of years down the line “Oh that’s our kid”

[starlitfaery]

Drabbles :: On the Events leading up to the Accident

A selection of drabbles set in my universe where Ken and Osamu are twins, focusing on his relationship with four important people in his life.

---------

Osamu

They met in the womb.

They shared everything but their names for the first half of their lives. They were happy, cheerful. Osamu worried over Ken at first, because he saw their parents worry and copied them, learning how to worry. At the time when they were still treated more or less the same, there was one thing that separated them.

Ken was the smaller twin.

Yes, like all twins, they were premature, but for a while, Ken was the one that no one thought would make it.

He was just

so

small.

He went to the doctor’s often enough that he even made a friend that was also frequently there.

Their first day of school, Osamu went and Ken was taken for another checkup. Just in case. That’s about when everything started going wrong.

The teachers noticed that Osamu was more than just advanced for his age (a fact that their parents had barely noticed at home), he was simply genius. Everyone started fawning over him, asking questions.

“What’s it like to be the smartest boy in the country?”

“What do you think you’ll be when you grow up?”

“You’re so smart, I’m sure you’ll solve this nation’s problems by the time you leave high school, right?”

And it was

fine.

It was fine.

Ken got it, he understood. He wasn’t actually sick anymore, just the occasional relapse. So of course his parents focused on the good news instead of the bad news that he would always have problems. Of course his parents throw their love to just the elder twin. Ken was alive and the doctors were no longer worried he could die.

So now Osamu got everything. Because there would be plenty time to give Ken love and affection once the cloud of fame passed.

They were just happy he was living. No other accomplishment Ken did mattered, especially if Osamu did it first.

That’s just how life was now and Ken would have to deal with it.

---------

Kouichi (& Kouji)

They met in the hospital.

He doesn't know exactly how old they were. He just knew that one second he was crying from being away from his mother. And the next, two identical faces were peering at his through the glass, a chair has been propped up next to it.

The three children put their hands on the glass, making faces at each other and smiling. None of them were good at words yet at all, but they managed with whatever words they knew best.

Then a tired nurse noticed the interlopers and quickly corralled them back to their mother, leaving Ken alone again, but much happier than before.

The next time he saw that face, there was only one and he managed to introduce himself as Kouichi (or, well, Ko'chi). And the other half of that pair was struck from his mind as Ken believed it had always only been just Kouichi.

They were fast friends. Sure Ken was stuck to whatever room the nurses put him in for the day, but when they realized that the two children were friends, they always made sure to bring Kouichi around.

One day, Ken remembered asking why another kid was in the hospital. Because he was so used to hearing adults say how sad it was that a child was sick. Part of him had begun to wonder if normally only adults got sick.

"Mama works here, and Grammy can't always watch me, so Mama brings me here and then I get to play with you!"

It was so simple.

Osamu was introduced to Kouichi the one time the older twin came with Ken to an appointment, introducing Kouichi to the world of twins.

And so they continued to spend their childhoods within sterile walls, beside a friend they knew they could count on.

They really should have traded phone numbers at one point or another.

---------

Miyako

They met in the schoolyard.

They weren't in the same class, much less the same year, but they were about the same size at the time. And when some cruel older kids thought they could pick on the scrawny kid, they ended up having to deal with both him and a helpful passerby that was happy to introduce herself to him.

Ken remembered his manners while covered in scratches and dirt, bowed his head, gave his first name and offered his thanks.

Then he ran away from her.

She spent a week looking everywhere for him in her year but never thought to ask the older kids.

She sat on the counter in her family's mart, swinging her legs over the ledge, and complained about this very annoying fact of her new school life to her parents who made sure to hum thoughtfully in all the right places.

Then Ken walked in with his twin and their mother and suddenly everything made sense.

She happily talked his ear off while his mother shopped and his brother gave her strange looks.

She stopped looking for him at school when he quietly mentioned that he tries not to stick out too much and just spends his free time at school near a teacher since then.

Of course, that just meant that every time the twins came by to buy this or that, she would talk his ear off while shopping instead.

Osamu never seemed to warm up to her but she lived for those small smiles Ken would give her when she told a particularly funny story.

---------

Ryou

They met in the classroom.

Ryou wasn't from Tokyo proper, and if the rumors and names the older kids called him were true, then Ryou wasn't even from Japan. But that didn't stop him at all.

Ryou walked into the classroom, giant smile on his face, introduced himself in pitch perfect proper Japanese, and immediately started chatting with Osamu, his deskmate.

Ken would watch them. See Osamu's lessening frown and Ryou's softening smile, and wonder how they could possibly act like they had just met when it was so obvious they must have known each other before.

It turned out they met in a chatroom for some computer nerds in grade school still.

Osamu wasn't even supposed to be on any of those chatrooms, their parents had explicitly forbid it for either twin.

When the teacher assigned a partnered project, Osamu of course allowed to work alone due to the assumption no one else would actually have anything to contribute to him, Ryou looked around before his eyes landed on Ken and he said he would work with him.

They ended up doing their projects at the Ichijouji house, Osamu still having a mild streak of protectiveness and not wanting Ken to be at some random person's house or be forced to walk home alone.

Their friendship never truly kindled until the time Ryou dropped by unexpectedly to pick up a left-behind textbook and they were pulled into the digital world.

There they had no choice but to become friends and partners in a war for a world that wasn't their own. Placing trust in someone that needed to have your back or else you could never go home.

---------

And so

Time would pass.

Ken would slowly get angry at this twin, wishing for his demise and not understanding why he couldn't just get a scrape of affection again from their parents.

Ken would be there for Kouichi when his grandmother would get sick, but when she died, Ken would be nowhere in sight, too busy dealing with his own dose of death and trauma.

Ken would distance himself from her once the accident happened, unable to bear seeing the street where he lost his twin without falling into a panic attack.

Ken would forget everything that happened in the digital world, believing it to be a fantasy he came up with after watching his brother and Ryou get close, a fantasy he made up when he relapsed.

Because that's what everyone believed when Ken, who had been happy and healthy one moment, suddenly became feverish, claiming pain where no one saw anything.

Osamu would worry quietly, wondering what happened to Ryou, but more worried about the stories on Ken's lips.

Kouichi would be alone as his grandmother told him he wasn't alone, he had a twin named Kouji that was taken away from him.

Miyako would tap her fingers on the counter of i-Mart, wondering why she had the worst feeling weighing down her heart.

Ryou would be gone, soon if not yet, learning that his enemy was meant to be his partner, torn between duty and what felt right.

Then the fever passed and Ken could stay awake for longer than a half hour at a time, could walk around with barely any help, could leave the hospital.

By this time, Ryou is officially gone from this universe, the memories of everyone that knew him slowly being adjusted to be a world where had never existed.

Osamu clung to fading memories even as he took Ken on a walk to the i-Mart, not noticing the truck until it was too late.

Miyako had been at the counter again, feeling dread in her heart she had raced to the door once she heard a terrifying sound, then she screamed for her parents and they brought her and Ken inside and wrapped them in blankets as they called the ambulance.

Elsewhere, Kouichi had known Ken was in the hospital, but he hadn't been allowed to see him, so he missed the memo that his friend had left, and instead focused on his new quest to find his own twin brother.

[overwatch-imagines-hub]

The Ladies With a Medic S/O:

Anon said: “I loved "the boys with a medic SO" could we get girls with medic SO too please? You're great :)”

Well you’re great too so thank you! vwv Sorry if this is a bit awkwardly written, by the way; I really had to think about the ladies’ perspectives, and towards the end my think tank was a little drained and I kept losing my train of thought. <’D I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Read “The Boys With a Medic S/O:” here!

Tip Jar

~~~

Ana Amari

Loves having a medic s/o

She, and more importantly her teammates, get into trouble much too often

So it’s nice to have someone to call at 3 am with anything from “I burned my finger making tea, come kiss it and make it better” to “Angela’s at the base and Jack just broke a hip trying to jumping from one rooftop to another”

“No, listen, I swear it’s his hip, okay?”

“It’s definitely not his leg or getting shot in the arm, it’s the whole hip.”

“He’s old, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Cue Soldier’s irritated hollering in the background while you snicker and force yourself out of bed

You both know she’s capable of dealing with most of the stuff she calls you about on her own, but “It’s easier with a professional around!”

AKA, every single injury of any caliber is a reason to see and/or smooch each other, so it’s fine

She loves to make cheesy and/or flirty medic jokes

Several medicinal pet names as well

You tease her about her age and health to about the same caliber as she teases Jack about the same things

However, instead of grumbling, she usually turns the teasing back or makes some flirty joke about how you’re welcome to give her a full body exam to make sure her health checks out

She also likes to walk into the med bay unannounced simply to come see you

You’ll be in the middle of a teammate’s checkup and she’ll waltz in, say she was looking for a band-aid, grab one, and then wait outside for you to finish

Ashe

Low-key grateful you’re a medic

With her line of work and mainly being surrounded by fighter robots, she appreciates having a medic around

Now, of course B.O.B. has basic medical skills and she could smooch him too, but it just wouldn’t be the same

For whatever reason, she quite likes making that tease

Anyway, she thinks you being a medic is great and, for the most part, is respectful about it

Makes the occasional medical joke and/or pickup line

Probably didn’t tell you her profession at first because she thought you were too good a person to get involved with her lifestyle

To be completely honest, she probably doesn’t often call you for medic-related things regardless

Whether or not you’re willing to doesn’t mean she wants you to get involved

Has you on call when she knows she’s going on a dangerous heist or other mission though

Doesn’t want to worry you but at the same time knows you’re skilled and trustworthy

Brigitte

Thinks it’s really cool that you’re a medic

Would love to learn some stuff from you

She basic medical skills and knowledge, but having more could never hurt

Plus she loves to learn new useful stuff

So if you’re up for it, she’d love to have you mentor her a bit

Probably treats you like any other medic on the field though

If you’re not the closest one to call, she needs someone with more skill, and/or it’s not an emergency that concerns you (AKA, she’s not the one hurt) then you won’t be the one she calls

Always lets you know when she gets hurt, though, so you can worry over her and nurse her back to health

Low-key loves when you worry over even her slightest injury

Kiss! Her! Scratch! Better!

Super respectful of your work and doesn’t like to interrupt you

However, she has accidentally hurt herself once or twice while blacksmithing, and has ended up waiting for you to finish whatever you’re doing to help her out

D.Va

Also thinks it’s really cool that you’re a medic

You’re smart and skilled and she’s gonna rant and fawn about it forever

Loves to brag about you to people

Likes to hang around you while you do work--not even bothering, just hanging off to the side and watching you--and loves to listen to you talk about it

Seriously, she could listen to you talk about your job, about the tiniest and simplest tasks, for hours

Probably picks up a thing or two from listening and watching so much

She’ll be on the field and someone will get hurt and she’ll just start spewing instructions

Afterwards it’ll take her a second to realize what she did and she’ll be like “Wait, what? Cool!”

Then chirps about it to you later

“Baaaaaabe, I talked about some of your stuff today! Perks of having a medic partner, huh?”

You’re the first person she thinks to call in most serious positions

She knows you can get pretty busy, though, so she also has a backup plan

CoughMercyCough

Mei

Doesn’t think a whole lot of it other than she appreciates another smart/nerdy mind to talk to

Y’all just talk at each each other, her about science and you about your own practices

Some things overlap, so that’s fun

Both of you picking up bits of the other person’s knowledge from talking about such things so often

Essentially nerding out about smart things together

Often calls you with medical questions when she comes up with them or finds herself in a situation where she may need the information

More often than not these questions result in a concerned you asking if she’s currently in the situation she’s describing

More often than not she says no

Roughly 30% she means it

Mercy

Appreciates the fact that she’s dating someone who understands what she’s going through most of the time

It’s nice to not have to explain everything in micro-details

Both of you being cute but also professional at work

Like you both focus on getting work done and are serious when needed

But also your desks face each other, you share each other’s work and food during lunch/break, and there’s a no PDA rule but y’all smooch and hold pinkies anyway and no one’s really mad about it because aww

Flirting in medical terms

Teasing in medical professional

The occasional medic pun

If one of you gets done with work before the other, you wait for the other to get done

You’ll wait for hours if you have to

Either piddling around or helping the other get their work done faster if you can

Going home together and just fuckin’ crashing

One of you flops on the couch while the other goes and heats up leftovers or orders food

Sitting together watching bad late-night/early-morning TV (depending on the time you get home) while ranting about your days

Angela complains about McCree a l o t

But also very lovingly talks about Fareeha and Ana, and teasingly talks about Jack

Either dragging each other to bed and holding each other up the entire time or falling asleep right there on the couch

Your days off are sparse and don’t line up very often, but when they do, it’s great

They’re either lazy days or date days and they’re always very soft and chill

Moira

Appreciates the like minds but otherwise doesn’t think much of it

When she realizes she likes you, she becomes a little iffy about letting you know about her experiments

If you’re up for it, she’ll probably ask for your input on them

Both to make said experiments a little more humane but also just to be around you more

The two of you don’t get to see each other very often but it’s always nice when you do

Moira’s not much of a PDA person but the only time she smiles (legitimately smiles, not a smirk or sneer) is when you walk into the room

It’s both sweet and terrifying to many of the other Talon members

At work, lunches and the occasional break are mainly the only times the two of you get to see each other

Stopping each other in the hall to talk until someone eventually comes and drags one of you away

Popping in each other’s offices for work things but also just to talk much longer than you’re supposed to stop and talk

Home life is very scattered

Again, neither of you get to see each other too often because Moira often stays at work much later than you can stay up and you often leave for work earlier in the morning

However, the two of you make it work

If you fall asleep on the couch waiting, you’ll wake up in bed snuggled by your girlfriend

You leave good morning notes and make Moira’s favorite coffee before leaving so she doesn’t have to rush her morning as much

Leaving notes for each other in general

Doing almost all of the chores and other at-home tasks together just to catch up and enjoy each other’s company

Days off are cleaning days, but, if you have multiple in a row, the two of you will alternate between cleaning days and chill days

Moira loves to take you out on days off, whether it be to lunch, to shop, to just walk around down, etc

Pharah

She thinks so highly of your work

Like she loves that you’re a doctor

Loves to be by your side off and on the field

She’s kind of become your designated guardian during missions at this point

You being there doesn’t distract her from her own work, but when you have to stop to help and heal teammates she makes a point to be nearby just in case someone tries to attack you

One of her casual pet names for you is Doc

She loves to talk with you about work

She herself has always been passionate about saving and protecting people, so she loves that you share those values

Asks you medical questions pretty often, both when she’s in a situation and not sure what she should do and just when the questions pop into her head

She’s had a decent amount of medical training herself but she picks up quite a bit more knowledge from you

Always pops in when she knows you have free time to make sure things are going well and you’re not overworking yourself or getting overwhelmed

Being a medic comes with its bloody business and she wants to make sure that doesn’t take too much of a toll on you

She stops by especially frequently when you get extremely busy (such as after a particularly difficult mission) or have to work overtime

Brings you snacks and drinks and makes sure you take your breaks

If she’s done with her own work, she’ll probably wait around the compound for you to get done

Always tries to get you relax and de-stress after work, whether that means going out for a cozy late night dinner, going to a funny movie, taking a hot bath, or straight-up flopping onto the couch and laying thre for several hours

Sombra

Before she actually got to know you and the two of you started dating, she probably thought you were kind of a pretentious prick

Similar to her current feelings about Moira

She has a thing against professionals in the medical, scientific, and law fields

Just authority figures in general

Don’t ask her why

Anyway

Doesn’t mind having a medic around considering the situations her teammates get into

Tries to convince you not to worry about herself, though

She’s not usually on the field anyway, and, when she is, she can handle herself

She just really doesn’t want you to be worrying about her

Upgrades all your gear, both your equipment in the med bay and what you wear on the field

Not gonna be having outdated equipment and pieces that might fritz out on her watch

Symmetra

Thinks very highly of your work

She just really appreciates what you do

Tries to make sure you don’t overwork yourself

Ironically, as much as she tries, she’s terrible at doing so for herself

When she notices you getting the slightest bit of tired, she does all in her power to make sure you’ll take a break

Beware

She’s a master negotiator and usually gets what she wants

Both of you just generally moderating each other so neither of you burn out

Sending each other messages at work checking up on each other

You’re both pretty busy but Symmetra’s schedule is usually more flexible

She has that power, being a higher up and all

She likes to pick you up and take you out of the compound during your lunches and breaks

Symmetra just waltzing in the med bay in a gorgeous suit to pick you up for lunch hoob o y

The lady’s quite health-oriented, so she tries to get you out of your hole as often as she can, especially considering some of the darker work you have to attend to

Tracer

Loooooves her smart medic s/o

She finds it super cool that you’re a medic, and is also super proud of you for doing what she considers the hardest part of the job

“All I have to do is run around and shoot things! You have to heal people! And do paperwork!”

She just

Fawns over you a lil bit

Just a little

Not a lot at all

Loves to listen to you talk about work, even though there’s quite a bit she doesn’t totally understand about it

Likes to listen to you rant about the more difficult parts of work as well; it’s good to get that stuff out there rather than tuck it away inside

She’s just a really good listener, honestly

Whenever you come home from a more difficult day at work, she’s prepared to go into comfort mode

Your favorite takeout? Ordered. A hot shower? Prepared. Fluffy pajamas? Sitting out, ready to be worn. Your favorite movies? Rented. Lena’s ears? Ready to listen.

She’s always still asleep by the time you have leave for work, but she’s always somehow awake whenever you get home, whether that be at 7 pm or 3 am

Even on missions, she’ll find out when you get home and make sure to call you and ask about your day

Widowmaker

Doesn’t think a whole lot of you being a medic, to be completely honest

As a lady of her apathetic nature, it’s a neither impressive nor boring detail

She thinks reasonably well of your profession and field, as they are the people saving lives, but that’s about it

She sometimes forgets how gruesome and dark the work can become, however, until you come home one day so emotionally drained from telling a family one of their members will never be coming home

Amelia’s just so used to the rough and gore herself that she doesn’t realize the toll it takes on others until she sees it

Although she’s not the best when it comes to emotional care and she’s a little spacey when it comes to remembering such things, she does her best to help you not become overwhelmed

She doesn’t normally visit you unprompted at work, but if she sees you in the halls or on one of your breaks or something, she’ll come chat

Zarya

She thinks very highly of people who do the more delicate and thoughtful work as opposed to someone just being out in the field

So she’s pretty impressed with you

Despite being the professional lady she is, that facade immediately cracks when the two of you start dating

She doesn’t let such a thing keep her from doing the important stuff, of course

However

She totally does steal you any chance she gets, either on your breaks or hers, to go be mushy

Smooching, giggle, holding hands, all that

If the two of you bump into each other in the hall, she’s tugging you somewhere more secluded to A) ask about your day B) smooch you a lot

If you’re at a meeting together, she’ll sit by you and hold your hand and play with your fingers under the table

Always takes you out to lunch if you both have time

Again, she’s still a very professional lady

She’s just

Also a sap now

If she’s on a mission, she makes sure to call you a couple times a day to make sure you’re doing alright and not overworking yourself

TherewasanotherthingIwasgoingtoputaboutherbeingonamissionbutIjustforgotitson e v e r m i n d

When you’re both on the same mission, she becomes your bodyguard of sorts

[ageofwrathrpg]

Name: Foma Alexandrovich Zharkov//Project M Age: 34 Affiliation: CITIZEN as an EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Ability: Ocular Death Inducement Faceclaim: Charlie Cox Availability: OPEN

THE STORY || CW: Emetophobia, Violence

White was his first memory. White floor, white walls, white noise. The pristine, blinding kind that stained your retinae. And before he knew the words for them, he felt disorientation and fear. He was confused at his nakedness. From the corners of his mind ebbed the traces of memory, rapidly receding. He tried to focus on them, to bring them back, but a voice snapped within him. A rubber band to the skull. Arrête. The voice was sharp and loud, a command. It belonged to Gaspard Morieau, a French telepath and the leader of Project Medusa. He knew this because Gaspard knew this, and Gaspard was in his head. It wasn’t long before he – Medusa – learned the rules of his 8x10 prison.

Each day, he would rouse to the feeling of Gaspard in his brain, flexing his fingers. If Gaspard was in a good mood, Medusa would eat rubbery ‘ham’ and cabbage soup. If he was angry, or indifferent, Medusa would eat a yellow gruel that tasted sweet and sticky and wrong. Medusa would feel Gaspard thinking as he vomited the mess onto the floor. After that, he would slip into a painful, violent fever that never lasted longer than five hours but always felt endless. Each night, after the lights had dimmed, a small hole would open and a rat would creep in and stare at him. For three hours, it would stare at him. At first, Medusa would withdraw to the corner in fear. Later, he would try to interact, desperate for any kind of friendship. The rat always retreated just out of reach, planted its haunches on the floor and stared. Eventually, Medusa only stared back. And after those three hours, the rat always, always exited the way it came in, and Medusa was alone again. And the lights would turn off completely. And he would sleep.

Months passed. A year? Eventually, Medusa spotted the small black camera that Gaspard was using to spy on him. It was no bigger than a pinhead, but Medusa was certain he saw its aperture move when he neared. Arrête, Gaspard growled. Medusa drew back a fist. ARRÊTE, he howled, but it was too late. Medusa slammed his fist into the wall and split his knuckle open on the lens. Medusa didn’t care. He brought his arm back and punched again, and again, until all the white in the room was splattered red, black in some places. A door opened and four people in shiny white coats came through. They grabbed Medusa by his arms, lifted him until he was kicking and screaming, and started to drag him out. Medusa was wild. His eyes were huge and whirling, and they found Lab Coat #2’s. Impossibly, #2 froze in place – it looked like all the air had left his body – and he hit the ground hard. Time stopped. The other Lab Coat’s realized what was happening. Medusa locked eyes, and they collapsed, too. He stepped out of his prison, through a concrete hallway, and up a staircase into the night. It killed him, how close he’d been to freedom this whole time. He wasn’t about to let it go. Medusa ran long and hard, until his feet were bleeding, until his naked legs caved and buckled at the edge of a power plant. Within the hour, an unintimidating man approached him with folded clothes for Medusa and a pair of black glasses shielding his eyes. He introduced himself as Sasha and because Medusa was understandably untrusting, he sat with him. He explained in startling honesty that he had precognition and that he’d had a vision of Medusa, that he wanted to help him. Possibly because he was too exhausted to care and possibly because Medusa was short-circuited by the moment of kindness, he trusted Sasha and let him take him home. There, he learned that Sasha was a journalist. Sasha fed him real food, taught him how to trust again, and helped Medusa disguise himself as his blind editor. Sasha named him Foma Alexandrovich Zharkov, after his favorite uncle. Sasha became family.

THE CHARACTER

By all accounts, Foma is only about 3 years old. Because of his psychological  youth, Foma misunderstands many nuances of Russian culture, is a disaster in social settings, and frequently mixes up idioms and phrases. When he’s not asking Sasha questions, he’s quietly and patiently assessing his surroundings before making his next move. Foma is very careful. He doesn’t trust easily, and he does have a fair amount of self-hatred because of the nature of his ability. His idea of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are very two-dimensional. People who help you are good; people who lock you in a room and feed you fever-inducing garbage are bad. So where does that leave him? Foma, who can kill other people by looking at them? Although Sasha tries every chance he gets to convince him that he’s a good person, Foma is still convinced he needs redemption. Right now, he’s just trying to be functional and he’s trying to live with himself.

CONNECTIONS

Aleksandr ‘Sasha’ Ivanovich Alkaev – Sasha has been nothing short of incredible. He treats Foma with kindness and can always tell what he needs: patience, guidance, a distraction, etcetera. To say that Foma is grateful is an understatement. He loves Sasha. With everything he is and more, he loves Sasha. For Sasha’s unparalleled patience, for the nights spent shaking in Sasha’s reassuring arms, Aleksandr would do anything to show his gratitude. But Aleksandr doesn’t seem to want anything of him. Just existing, finding reasons to smile, and doing his best seems to be enough.

Karolyne 'Lynne' Aleksandrovna Pavlova – When Sasha first rescued him, he’d correctly guessed that Foma was in no place to go to a bustling hospital, so hired his doctor to come to his home and look at Foma’s arm. Karolyne came, who was patient and gentle and had hands that were certain and reassuring. She gave him stitches and prescribed him pain medication. Since then, Karolyne has been his doctor and though she doesn’t deserve it, he’s shy and aloof whenever she comes in for checkups. It’s nothing against her. He just doesn’t like needles. Or white coats.    

Wonda Lazlovna Repina – In all of his short life, Foma has seldom seen anyone as intriguing as Wonda. She was engrossed in a book when he first saw her, her forehead stitched together in concentration. Because life is short, Foma ‘accidentally’ joined her at her table. She introduced herself, and they struck up a conversation. Despite them having little in common, the two became quick friends. He speaks plainly and she finds his naivety amusing.

Raisa Mikhailovna Nazarowicz – The first time they met, he’d bought her a coffee. Accidentally. One of his redemption things is paying for the next person in line’s coffee, and one day that happened to be Raisa. She thanked him and had a hint of expectation in her voice. Foma blinked and asked if he knew her. They hit it off, and it took months before he realized she was a world-famous author. He confronted her about it sheepishly, and she laughed and nodded. Nothing changed between them – they were still close friends, but she did supply him with braille copies of her novels. He hasn’t told her, but he finds her writing somewhat pretentious.

Josette Proulx – He has no idea who she is, but once she saw him reading a poster hanging from the wall. With his blind garb on, he could only assume what she was thinking. He hurriedly walked away, but the next week he saw her again – watching him. Her eyes were narrowed, his skin was crawling. He kept walking and forced himself to trip on a stone. His white stick went one way, Foma went the other. The skin on his knees grated against the concrete ground and he bit his lip to keep from crying. That was the last time he saw of her. He dreads seeing her again.

[[ More Connections ]]

ETC

When he makes mistakes – forgetting his way back home, misremembering a phrase, saluting a stranger with the improper greeting – sometimes he swears he can hear Gaspard in his head, loud and clear, barking his favorite word. When this happens, Foma becomes undone. He loses himself. Sasha is always there to bring him back.

Sasha guesses that the purpose of the rat was to check Project M’s progress. It was clearly trained to make eye-contact with Foma, and so if it came back after three hours, that was considered a failure. If it didn’t, Project M was a success. Foma hates rats, so Sasha bought a Siberian Cat for the house and named him Sparta.

He loves snow. His first snow, Foma ran to Sasha terrified that the sky was falling. Sasha comforted him as per usual and explained the intricate mechanism of gas to water to ice. Now snow just reminds him of Sasha, and that’s the best feeling in the world.

Disguised as a blind man, Foma had to learn braille; he realized that he greatly prefers it over sighted reading. There’s something freeing about being able to close your eyes and feel the words against your fingertips. His first braille novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Foma read in five nights.

Blind perks include being able to watch beautiful people in secret.