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zephfair · 28 days ago

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GO-FHMR Chapter 2

Still ridiculously fluffy AU. Still will have a syrupy happy ending; the “villain” is not forever. Still trying to fit in Hallmark tropes. Still rated G. Will eventually be Gansey/Ronan and potentially Ronan/Gansey/Adam, IF they cooperate. Oh heck, even if it’s OOC, I really want that ot3.

For now the true pairing is Gansey/Henrietta always and forever, amen.

Chapter 1

Unfortunately, Gansey’s heart and mind couldn’t relax. He took a shower and got into the surprisingly comfortable bed—after he turned around the flock of ceramic roosters that clustered on the dresser staring toward the bed.

He couldn’t block the guilt of avoidance any longer and finally turned on his phone. There were texts from both of his parents and Helen, but nothing from Adam. No surprise, he’d be busy until the wee hours with work and he always said he had to give himself and Gansey time to cool off after one of their “disagreements.”

Gansey shot off generic texts to his family members. He’d only told them that he and Adam wouldn’t make dinner and he was leaving immediately for Henrietta. He didn’t elaborate, just let them know he’d arrived safely.

Then he tossed and turned until midnight. He finally got up and drank a glass of water from the bathroom and tried to blame his insomnia on the stress and the huge meal he’d consumed.

After propping himself up on the pillows, he gave in and turned on the TV, heading right to channel 79. Sure enough, there was another Christmas movie playing, and even though he’d started it somewhere in the middle, Gansey had no trouble following along with the so-called plot.

When the next movie started, Gansey woke his phone, searched Hallmark movie tropes, and was relieved to discover that he wasn’t the only who realized the stories hit all the same beats, had similar plots etc.

But that didn’t explain why they were so damn satisfying.

Watching the heroine leave a “bad” situation and have a meet-cute with a conventionally attractive man who then helped her/helped the small town/helped her discover the “true meaning” of the holidays—well, Gansey suddenly understood why escapist media was so popular.

The current hero was carefully groomed with scruff, wore denim and flannel and one of those jackets with the sherpa lining and work boots, and drove an unnecessarily large pickup truck. He somehow also ran the town bakery even though there were only a few scenes that took place in the kitchen. But he brought treats to the town meetings where the heroine was trying to pitch her big-city company’s idea to knock down the town’s cabins and build high-rise condos.

None of it made financial sense and Gansey would have happily torn it to shreds with well-thought-out reasoning, but the way the hero looked at the heroine while they squabbled about how the vacation condos would destroy the integrity of the town, while he took her dancing at a holiday street fair, while he hugged her at the public meeting in front of her company’s investors and CEO/boyfriend, there was a longing that appealed to him.

Being with Adam was nothing like this. In fact, being with Adam was nothing like previous relationships which was why he’d been blind-sided at first. He’d dated women exclusively up to the moment he and Adam had been on the fourth hour of an all-nighter, studying for finals the end of their freshman year at Harvard. They’d both been exhausted and giddy with it, running on energy drinks and gas station burritos, and one sarcastic comment from Adam made them both burst out laughing. Gansey had leaned into him, the man he thought was his best friend, the one he was most himself with, the one who argued with him and kept him always on his toes, and Adam had kissed him.

He’d immediately pulled back and apologized. Gansey remembered brushing his thumb against his own lips, wondering what had just happened but knowing that he wanted it to happen again. And so he’d told Adam that, and Adam had obliged.

Their relationship had never been exactly easy. They were both stubborn and adamant and had a way of seeing things only from their own perspectives, influenced by their own personal histories. Gansey had known that right from the beginning.

He’d also known that Adam had some other self-defeating qualities, particularly when the lies he’d cloaked himself in came tumbling down after finals. Although Adam lost most of the friends he’d made his freshman year, Gansey hadn’t quit him.

He more than anyone understood about reinventing oneself. He’d just been lucky enough not to get caught when he faked it.

Now watching a ridiculous TV movie, Gansey couldn’t stop analyzing himself and Adam.

Adam was kind. Adam was ruthless.

Adam was handy. Adam was ambitious.

Adam was thrifty. Adam was cold.

Adam was unknowable. Adam was lovable.

When they’d kissed, Adam had been starving. When Adam’s lies had caught up to him, Gansey had stood proudly at his side, because he’d thought he understood Adam at some deeper level than anyone else. Now, he was second-guessing all of it.

He blew his nose messily and curled up as another movie began.

Gansey woke up after a few hours of restless sleep somehow feeling worse than before he’d slept. His body ached, his head hurt, his nose was congested, his eyes were red. Another shower didn’t help.

But he made it to breakfast, dismayed to realize that he was nearly an hour after the time Patty had told him. Although he apologized and argued that he didn’t need anything, please don’t go to anymore trouble, Patty had sat him down at the kitchen table again and fried him some bacon and eggs then threw some bread in the cast-iron skillet as well.

“I can’t thank you enough,” Gansey stared down at the plate and felt his arteries begin to harden.

“You need good food to make yourself feel good,” Patty explained as she poured him a mug of coffee roughly the size of his head. Although it wasn’t his usual artisanal blend, hand-ground, and put through a French press, Gansey took it with grabby hands and drank it with a deep sigh, the drink of the gods hitting him in all the ways he needed.

Patty chuckled and started talking while he started eating. He was mopping up the last bit of egg with the final bite of bread when he realized Patty had asked him a direct question.

“My plans for today? I really hadn’t thought about it yet. I suppose I should head over to the library and get started on my research right away.”

“Oh, you don’t need to jump into your work yet, do ya? It’s still the holiday, take some time to rest and relax.”

Gansey hid his tiny sad smile behind his coffee mug. “Ma’am, I don’t think I’ve rested or relaxed in my life.”

Patty refilled his mug. “Well you might have some trouble getting into anything today anyway. You might not take a day off, but around here, today is still considered Thanksgiving, and I don’t even know if the library is open. I do know that everybody and their brother is going to be out shopping since it’s Black Friday. If you don’t like crowds, you might want to stay away from the mall or Walmart today.”

“That’s right, I’d totally forgotten.” All the goodwill from the grease and caffeine slid right out of Gansey. He’d forgotten how small towns operated and the bother that Black Friday would cause. “You’re right. I may have to wait until Monday to get any real work done.”

“Well don’t make it sound like such a bad thing! You said you’d lived here in Henrietta before. Maybe you can get reacquainted with us. And you definitely don’t want to miss tonight, everyone will be there.”

“What’s tonight?”

“Only the best night of the year!” Patty magically produced a flyer from somewhere. “The town has a special tree-lighting ceremony every Black Friday, right at the little park down the street from the courthouse. They shut down the street and all the local restaurants are there. They offer soup-tasting and sweets and just about anything you want. Now, it’s not the Christmas market they started a couple of years ago. But there’s lots of food and music from the high school bands and then everybody watches them light up the big Christmas tree. It’s even on TV every year!”

“That sounds lovely,” Gansey lied, the thought of the crowds making him feel sick.

“And just about everybody that comes back home for Thanksgiving is there so you can see friends and their kids you haven’t seen in years!”

Patty continued on about the wonders of light-up night, but Gansey excused himself as soon as he could. He needed to get out for a while and even driving through crowded streets was better than this.

He started the Range Rover and took the next exit to “downtown” Henrietta. Patty was right—some things had changed drastically since he’d lived there at Aglionby. Some of the streets were blocked off, so he ended up circling out further from the center of town.

Many of the old buildings looked the same, only with different signs on the shops. There were more fast food and national retail stores on the outskirts of town than he remembered. Those were all very busy from the shoppers.

He was unsurprised to be able to pull across the street and park from the entrance of Aglionby Academy. He had an urge to walk around campus which looked like it hadn’t changed or been updated at all, but the gate was securely locked.

Gansey remembered the surprise from his parents when he’d asked to attend Aglionby for his sophomore year of high school. He’d spent the year before studying in Wales and England, a bygone time that he now remembered fondly. That was back when he’d been caught in the grip of an obsession with the Welsh king Owen Glendower, when he’d sworn that the myth was real and he could find proof that the legend of Glendower had extended to the rural Virginian countryside.

His parents then were still obliging him, giving in to his demands and whims because they still felt guilt about him nearly dying from his severe allergic reaction to bee stings. They let him travel and follow his heart’s desire and immerse himself in his weird fantasies and obsessions.

They were probably relieved when his next wish for Aglionby seemed so normal. They happily enrolled him and he was soon on his way to living in the dorms. School was school, but Gansey soon found out it was harder to get around in rural Virginia than it had been in England, and he couldn’t get to the sites that interested him because he wasn’t old enough to drive yet.

If you had that, man, just think of everywhere we could go! And how fast we’d go! Gansey heard the excited voice in his memories as clear as the day it had happened. His best friend and he were riding their bikes through Henrietta one Saturday when they’d seen the bright orange, black-striped classic Camaro in a driveway and stopped to drool over it.

Gansey had never wanted something so much in his life, but the proud owner wasn’t about to talk to some teenage boys about it, not even Aglionby boys.

Gansey smiled at the memory and wished for an instant that he’d been able to buy and drive that car. He couldn’t help but feel like his life would’ve been much different if he’d been driving that Camaro.

And his best friend, well, he hadn’t thought about him in years either. Another loner who’d been ostracized by most of the Aglionby crowd because he didn’t live in the dorms, but he and Gansey had bonded over mythology and adventure and music. They’d had sleepovers at his home outside Henrietta and they’d been inseparable that year.

They’d promised repeatedly to keep in touch after his father exploded and pointed at Gansey’s low grades and distractions as the reason to finally snap his parents out of their permissiveness and move Gansey back to a military prep school outside D.C. where they could closely monitor his behavior through the rest of high school and right into the Ivy League.

As usually happened at that age, the busyness and pressures of daily life had pushed out his long-distance best friend, and correspondence had dwindled by the time Gansey started his miserable junior year.

The thoughts of those happy days kept a smile on Gansey’s face as he pulled away and continued driving around the area. The afternoon slipped past in pleasant memories of his time there, and he pulled over several times to make notes of things he remembered wanting to study then and new lines of pursuit and how they could be linked together.

He looked up at the neon sign of the building whose parking lot he’d stopped at and realized it was Nino’s—his favorite place to eat off campus. He didn’t think twice, just turned off the SUV and went in.

It wasn’t as busy as it could have been, thanks to most people eating Thanksgiving leftovers at home. As he waited for his pizza, he looked at the rowdy diners. It was easy to tell some of the teens were definitely townies enjoying a day off school to hang out with friends while others were certainly Aglionby boys with big egos and bigger attitudes and giant chips on their shoulders.

He even found himself looking around for the waitress they’d always had back then. She’d been one of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen, but it was her unique style that was so vastly different from anyone he’d ever met. His best friend had always made fun of him for his crush, and the girl had never shown any interest in him, but it made Gansey smile thinking of how awkward he’d been trying to get her attention and work up the courage to ask her on a date, even while his best friend mocked him.

Are you shitting me? That’s the kind of girl you like?! She’s the size of hobbit and her dress looks like a lamp!

Then he remembered it’d been more than thirteen years and she’d been his age, and she probably wasn’t working at Nino’s anymore. He ate his pizza and drank his sweet tea in silence, then left a hundred percent tip for the current high school server.

He stopped at the gas station, filled up and bought a couple bags of snacks to take back to the bed and breakfast.

Patty accosted him as he tried to sneak back to his room. “You ready for the light-up night? You’d better put on another layer. It’s gonna get colder now that the sun’s goin’ down.”

Gansey tried to make polite excuses then firmer excuses then somehow found himself pulling on his favorite cashmere sweater over the polo shirt he’d been wearing. Patty was more satisfied once he’d zipped up his suede jacket and donned a hat and pair of gloves.

Then she’d bustled him into the backseat of their minivan and let Shorty drive them into town. He did stealthily unzip the jacket in a rare show of defiance and plan to ditch the hat as soon as he was out of sight of Patty.

He didn’t have to wait long. Shorty dropped them off as near as he could to the action then left to find parking. Patty made Gansey agree to meet her back at the spot in two hours. Then she abandoned him to find a group of her church lady friends.

Gansey wandered down the street, glancing at the vendors, spurning their advances to buy a wristband to benefit a local charity that would gain him access to the various food offerings.

Gansey had to admit that Henrietta was putting its best foot forward for the evening. They’d decorated the downtown’s lamp posts with wreaths and white lights. Most of the businesses had decorations and lights lining their windows. It did feel festive, and Gansey admired the spirit behind it.

Even the people seemed unnaturally friendly and polite, talking and laughing, apologizing as they bumped into each other, shrilly shouting names as they recognized old friends, letting children run helter-skelter through the crowd.

Gansey definitely didn’t feel that spirit. He finally got to the wide intersection where the town’s Christmas tree stood. It was a huge and beautiful spruce even without the lights twinkling yet. The crowd was milling thicker as light-up time drew nearer.

Gansey winced when the high school brass section started playing something that might have been a Christmas carol right beside him.

He hurried to the other side of the street, away from the squawking trumpets, and was lured in by a drinks stand for a weak cup of coffee.

Gansey had just enough time to think that it did feel nice to warm his hands when he ran right into a brick wall and the nice warmness felt less nice as the hot liquid saturated his sweater and shirt.

Then he realized that it wasn’t a wall that he’d collided with and was in fact a big man dressed all in black with as much holiday spirit as the Grinch—only with a lot more muscles.

“Dick,” a low, gravelly voice growled down at him. Gansey hid his wince from the cold voice as well as the chill of lukewarm coffee soaking through his cashmere, and most probably, the black shirt of the brick wall/man he ran into.

“There’s no need to resort to name-calling. I was about to apologize for spilling on you,” Gansey said, pulling himself straighter but it only brought the man’s stubbly Adam’s apple and chin into focus.

“Fuck, no, that’s not—” then a softer voice—a tone that brought back memories of green fields, the smell of hay and cattle, the tug of a boyish hand in his, days filled with laughter—warmed him in an instant when it said, “Gansey? Is that really you?”

Gansey looked up further into light blue eyes framed with thick black lashes. He’d have recognized those eyes even if he hadn’t spent the day wallowing in memories.

“Ronan Lynch? Is that you?”

Then Gansey found himself wrapped in those big arms and up in the air in the most enthusiastic hug he’d ever received. He couldn’t help but laugh and slap the leather-clad back in delight.

“I don’t fucking believe it. Gansey!”

Gansey found himself back on his feet as Ronan set him down, and he grabbed Ronan’s biceps to keep his balance as the crowd surged around them. A microphone shrilled feedback then someone started speaking, but Gansey couldn’t pay attention. His attention was fully locked onto the man who also hadn’t let go of his waist.

Ronan had certainly grown into the kind of body his teenage height and gawkiness had hinted at, and his face had lost all traces of baby fat, displaying sharp cheekbones and a jawline Gansey could’ve cut himself on. But his eyes had softened into a look that Gansey could still see in his memories, and his smile was wide and heartfelt, an expression that somehow Gansey knew wasn’t his usual.

Ronan’s eyes were flickering over him the same way, and Gansey really hoped he wasn’t disappointed by what he saw.

Then Ronan’s big hands squeezed his waist and he laughed. “What the hell, man! What are you doing here?!”

“Visiting Henrietta, but what are you doing <i>here</i>?” Gansey didn’t think Ronan looked like he belonged at a family-friendly community event, unless it was to act as a thug or bodyguard.

“Gotta make sure they don’t fuck up the lighting,” Ronan said which only gave Gansey another hundred questions. “Are you here with someone?”

“No, no one, I’m here in town by myself.”

“Come on then, over here.” Ronan stepped closer and slid his hand down to Gansey’s lower back to guide him through the crowd. It made Gansey shiver in a way that was definitely not from the clammy spill on his sweater. “Oh shit, I forgot. Can I get you another drink? Sorry about running into you and making you lose it.”

“No, it’s fine, really Lynch. I was about to apologize to you for spilling coffee all over you.”

Ronan’s grin down at him was almost as mischievous as Gansey remembered. “Nah, that’s definitely not the worst thing that’s been on me today. Come over here.”

Gansey spared a thought to wonder where Ronan was taking him, somewhere behind the stage and behind the tree out of view of most of the onlookers. There were still enough people that Ronan kept his hand on Gansey’s back, and that was pretty much all Gansey could focus on. That and the sudden thought that Ronan was probably taking him to meet his wife and children and Gansey had better get himself together.

In fact, Ronan was headed toward a canopy overshadowing the doorway of a closed insurance office, and when the crowd gave way, there was indeed a very petite, beautiful young woman grimacing at them.

“You are never going to believe who I just ran into, literally,” Ronan started but the woman interrupted him.

“Dammit Lynch, you bastard, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“What the hell do you want now?”

“Not me, you irresponsible asshat. The mayor,” she jerked her chin toward the stage. “Said there’s something wrong with the main cord.”

Ronan threw his head back and swore with such vigor and originality that Gansey was vaguely impressed.

“Yeah, tell that to him,” she said dryly. “Now get out there and do your worst.”

“You know I will,” Ronan promised. He patted Gansey’s chest then let his hand press there a long moment that made Gansey aware of his own fluttering heart. “You stay here and don’t you dare take off until I get back,” he warned Gansey then turned to the woman. “You sit on him if he tries to escape, although knowing you two, you both might like that too much.”

“So now I’m an accomplice in one of your felonies. Again. Thanks Lynch,” the woman said.

Ronan blew a kiss at them and stalked off. Gansey turned and watched him go, walking around the base of the giant tree and disappearing into the foliage.

He turned back to his new companion when she snorted loudly. “So that’s how it is,” she said, giving him a look up and down that was no less searching than Ronan’s had been but much, much more judgmental.

Gansey tried to gather his wits. “I’m Gansey, an old friend, and you are Lynch’s... er...”

“Oh no, I’m in no way Lynch’s anything at all,” she argued immediately.

Something about the obstinate look on her face and the way she stood up for herself combined with the hair and the delicate features… Gansey gaped at her in shock. “Oh my Lord, it’s you. From Nino’s. Jane.”

Yes, the glare from under the eyebrows was thoroughly familiar and still made Gansey feel like she was looking down on him, even if he had almost a foot of height on her.

“So you can remember who served you that abomination of a pizza you used to order, but you’ve still got the wrong name,” she said.

“No, that’s what Lynch and I used to call you. Because you had such a unique name. Blue. But we thought Jane went along with my name because Dick and Jane … and Lynch always teased me because I had such a crush on you,” he finished weakly in view of her expression.

Blue sniffed loudly enough to be heard over the microphones on stage. “I remember. And I vividly remember the day you called me a prostitute.”

“I never did!”

“Ronan and I still talk about it.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Gansey rubbed at his forehead until he noticed that Blue was grinning at him, a grin that reminded him of Ronan which reminded him— Gansey’s surge of jealousy was hot and unexpected and he wasn’t sure which one he was most jealous of.

“So you and Lynch are just dating?”

“No! Lynch and I are in no way at all together like that. Why do people insist on shipping us? You should know better anyways,” she added with another snarky grin.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he admitted and her grin turned to a frown.

“You mean, you don’t—”

Whatever she was going to say was cut off when the crowd started a loud countdown together at TEN. They were at FOUR when Ronan slid up beside Gansey rather closer than he needed to. He leaned in front of him and fist-bumped Blue as the crowd hit ONE and the Christmas tree lit up.

The crowd cheered and applauded, and Gansey found himself smiling and clapping along. The multitude of lights split the darkness of the night and gave the massive tree an ethereal glow that made it appear even larger.

“Oh, it’s just beautiful,” he said.

“It’s dead,” Blue said.

“It can be both,” Ronan said and threw an arm around Gansey’s shoulders.

The crowd had started to sing “O Christmas Tree” and Ronan swayed them a little in time with the music.

When the song ended, Gansey actually heard part of the speech which included a “great big thanks to Lynch Farm of Singers Falls for the amazing tree, as always!”

“Lynch Farm?” He looked over at Ronan who shrugged, a little embarrassed.

“I turned part of the property into a Christmas tree farm. Sargent makes sure it’s sustainable and ecologically friendly and all that shit.”

Gansey looked from one to the other. “How extraordinary! That the two of you work together.”

“I met her in high school,” Ronan said then added. “Got expelled from Aglionby junior year. I started at Mountain View and recognized the teeny-tiny waitress from Nino’s. Thought she was being bullied and I stepped in, but turned out she won the fight.”

“Damn right I did,” Blue said. “But your Dick here and I already got caught up.”

Ronan squeezed the arm he still had around Gansey’s shoulders. “Heh, remember that time you called her—”

“I never called her a prostitute!”

Gansey’s voice must have been louder than he planned because a couple people nearby turned to look at them. Ronan just burst out laughing until even Blue joined him.

“I missed you, man,” Ronan said in a low voice in his ear, just for the two of them.

“I missed you too, Lynch,” Gansey returned with utter sincerity.

“You should come out to the farm.”

“This is a bad time,” Blue warned.

“It’s just a crazy-ass time,” Ronan corrected. “This is the busiest weekend of the year. Come out tomorrow and join the madness.”

“I’d love to,” Gansey said, finding that it was true even as he said it.

“Awesome,” Ronan let go of him and then started some kind of strange dance, touching his chest, butt and thighs and then again but faster. Blue rolled her eyes at him then dug Ronan’s phone out of her purse. “Sargent, you asshole, thanks.”

“You’re going to lose that thing one of these days,” she warned.

Ronan handed the phone to Gansey, expecting him to know what to do. Gansey dutifully put in his information and texted himself.

Ronan accepted the phone back and promised, “I’ll send you the address. I’m assuming you remember the general area.”

“I could never forget the Barns. It’s such a magical place. Are you running things for your family now?”

Ronan’s smile slipped briefly. “We’ll talk tomorrow. When the whole damn town isn’t around.”

“Sounds good,” Gansey smiled up at him and Ronan’s face returned to the same soft look it had before. “What a marvelous coincidence running into you like this, Lynch.”

“Isn’t it?” Ronan said. Blue snorted to their side but they ignored her. “You’ll really come out tomorrow?”

“Absolutely. I can’t wait. Only, I must get going now. The proprietress of the bed and breakfast will be waiting to take me back.”

“Ha, Patty? Tell her I’ll throw her tree in the chipper and give her nothing but stems and twigs if she doesn’t treat you like a king.”

Gansey chuckled. “I’ll leave the threats to you. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait,” Ronan said.

Gansey looked over at Blue and included her in his smile. “It was lovely to see you again too, Blue. I hope I’ll see you tomorrow as well.”

“If I’m not fast enough,” she responded but Gansey knew she was only joking.

His trip back through the crowd was much different as he allowed the flow to carry him along. He knew he was still smiling but the people around him were smiling too so he didn’t think he stood out.

It wasn’t until he joined Patty at the meeting point that she noticed the difference. “Why Gansey, you are beaming! I told you’d have a good time!”

“I ran into an old friend. Old friends,” he corrected himself.

“Why, that’s wonderful! Are you getting together with them later?”

“Yes. I’m actually going to visit him, them, tomorrow. At Lynch Farm.”

“Oh my, do you know Ronan?”

“Yes, that’s right. He was my best friend when I went to Aglionby. We ran into each other by the tree.”

Patty sighed. “He’s a good boy, that one, for all that he wants to make himself out to be bad. He’s done more than all right for himself. It’s a shame for everything he’s been through.”

“Really? What’s that?”

Patty filled him in about the Lynch family tragedy on the ride back to the B&B. Gansey was shocked and horrified that Niall had been killed right there in the driveway where he and Ronan had pushed and shoved each other in a race to see who would reach the porch first. And poor Aurora who’d collapsed the day of Niall’s funeral and never woken again.

No wonder Ronan had left Aglionby, Gansey thought. He’d had no idea that anything so disastrous had happened to his friend. No wonder Ronan never got back in touch with him. He couldn’t imagine what he’d been going through.

Well, Gansey hadn’t been there for him then, but he could reunite their friendship now. If Ronan wanted to. And it seemed like he had wanted.

“Ronan has made the farm into something good, and he’s always part of the community events, for all his complaining and griping. We all know it’s just the way he is.”

“That’s really impressive,” Gansey said. “I’m so sorry he’s been through all that heartbreak, but I do hope he’s doing well now. He looked like he is.”

Patty turned as far around as she could to meet Gansey’s eyes. “He is a good boy,” she repeated. “And now all he needs is another good boy to keep him company out on that farm. Where he lives all alone.”

The implications swirled through Gansey as he caught on to what she was saying. “Oh, I don’t… I mean, I didn’t… that’s not why I…”

He could see Patty’s smile in the dim streetlight. “Just something to think about,” she said while Shorty muttered her name.

Gansey looked away when his phone buzzed with a text.

Great to see you dick. Heres the address don’t dress up so fancy, we’ll get you dirty

Gansey couldn’t help but grin again. His mood was so warm and bright that even the next text could only dampen it, not quite extinguish it.

The text was from Adam: your stuff will be here whenever you get back unless you want it sooner, please advise.

CHAPTER 3

#the raven cycle #trc #trc fic #gansey #ronan lynch #my fic

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ofblitzd · 1 year ago

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┊┊cerberus corp has been watching AIYANA MORENO. some of the public has dubbed them BLITZ because of LIGHTNING MANIPULATION gifted by FIRE CAUSED BY LIGHTNING STRIKE. having been an extra ordinary since 2017, they’re doing a good job at hiding OUTBURSTS CAUSED BY STRONG EMOTIONS & SCORCHING THEMSELVES. when they aren’t working their day job as a BARTENDER, they are fond of WORKING ON VINTAGE CARS and are never seen without A BRACELET MADE BY HER SISTER. at first glance they seem CHARISMATIC & TENACIOUS, though their close friends know them to also be RUTHLESS & VENGEFUL. they consider themself a VILLAIN. ┊┊ baz. she/her. 30. cst. n/a.

TW : fire, death.

001. GENERAL

name : aiyana sekai moreno. nicknames : blitz, yana, na. age : thirty. date of birth : october 30th, 1993. zodiac : scorpio sun, taurus moon, capricorn rising. place of birth : new york city, new york. current residence : brooklyn, in a one bedroom, studio apartment above the bar she bartends at. gender : demi woman. pronouns : she/they. sexuality : pansexual. occupation : bartender. faceclaim : khadijha red thunder height : 5’9”. tattoos : lightning strike down their left side, her sister’s initials under her left collar bone, a patchwork sleeve from her right shoulder to wrist consisting of at least 20 random tattoos, spiderwebs on the backs of their knees, a snake wrapped around a dagger along her spine, a medusa on their left calf and jellyfish on the right, their tentacles wrapping around to her shin. piercings : triple pierced lobes and double helix on her right ear, triple pierced lobes, double helix, and tragus on her left. septum, and left nostril. distinguishing features : freckles covering most of their face, burns along their left thigh and hip from their nde, and a three inch scar on their right calf, just above their ankle from a childhood bike accident. positive traits : charismatic, tenacious, loyal, hard working. negative traits : ruthless, vengeful, sarcastic, reticent. labels / tropes : tall, hot, ruthless villain with fabulous hair!? idk tbd on a real answer lol. likes : snakes/reptiles, weight lifting, obscene amounts of vaping, vodka sodas, thunderstorms, loud music, collecting sharp objects (mostly pocket knives, but she does own throwing stars, too), double dutch, a lacy bodysuit, jasmine tea. dislikes : emotions, acrylic nails (they always end up melting off when she calls the lightning), tiny yappy dogs, sherpa jackets (the texture gives her the ick), peas, coffee (especially the sugary kind). fears : suffocating, trusting the wrong people. again. hobbies : knife throwing, mixology, working on her charger, lifting, thinking of fun new ways to ruin the men and women who disappoint them, window shopping. habits : twirling pens, straws, and coins (whatever she can get her hands on tbh) along her fingers, cracking her joints (hands, elbows, neck), sucking their teeth when they’re annoyed.

002. EXTRA ORDINARY

NDE

aiyana grew up on the streets of brooklyn with their sister - enola - seeing more than two young girls ever should have bore witness to. yet, they survived. hell, they thrived. the two had grown into competent, independent women that took a relatively shitty childhood circumstances and turned their lives into something to be insanely proud of. the tiny, fixer upper they’d bought had only been theirs for six months when the storm rolled in. it was the height of summer and dry lightning split the sky, threatening to unleash a torrent of rain. aiyana wished it would have. a crack of lightning struck their home, setting it ablaze as if it were mere kindling. it took seconds for the sisters to become trapped and smoke to fill the tiny space, smothering them. yana was ready to all but drag their baby sister out of the house when a piece of the roof caved in, landing on aiyana’s left leg. she was trapped. more debris continued to fall, further trapping aiyana and enola. all yana could think of was staying alive long enough to get. her sister. out. she couldn’t die under this stupid fucking house. she wouldn’t. not if it meant losing the one thing that held her together in the moments that yana felt like she was being ripped apart at the seams. the sirens had just come within earshot when aiyana finally managed to shove the fiery debris off of her leg. painstakingly slowly, yana crawled her way to enola, but it was too late. she would later find out that the smoke inhalation had been the thing to kill their sister. fucking smoke. still, even if the rational part of her brain knew enola was gone, yana wasn’t letting go. she could still save her somehow and refused to die until she did. yana lost consciousness before the firefighters were able to pull them and enola from the rubble and, while her sister was pronounced dead on scene, aiyana was loaded into the back of an ambulance and rushed to the nearest hospital. days later, yana came to - groggy and confused. as the events from days prior slowly came back to her, an unfamiliar heat coursed through her limbs and energy crackled at her fingertips. panic and pure energy swirled in the pit of her stomach, forming a tight ball of anxiety until a nurse finally broke the news that enola never even made it to the er. a wail ripped through aiyana’s already shredded throat as a crack of lightning split the otherwise clear sky just outside her window. the very lightning that shattered aiyana’s whole world, gave them the power to shatter everyone else’s. and shatter them, she would.

POWER

aiyana’s abilities are limited to charged particles in the earth’s upper atmosphere. she cannot manipulate electric appliances or draw from electric currents used to power them. will she summon lightning to make them explode for dramatic effect? absolutely. every single time. she’s extra af and wildly unapologetic about it. but! it’s easiest when they’re outside to call the lightning. depending on the building, and what was used to build it, can make it more difficult to do so. yana’s abilities may also be amplified by large quantities of conductor in her near vicinity, but it has to be a significant amount. a lake, river, mass amounts of high conductive metals - they’ll all get the job done. the same goes for grounding materials like rubber or plastic - in large amounts, they may stifle her abilities. her abilities also require a significant amount of control - both physical and emotional. the use of their powers quickly drain aiyana, causing massive fatigue and, oddly enough, dehydration. that’s the main reason they started hitting the gym as hard as she does. it took practically no time after her powers manifested to figure out she wasn’t physically up to par with their newfound abilities. flashes of strong emotion of any kind can cause aiyana to lose control of her lightning, both putting others and herself in danger. they’ve always been good at schooling their emotions, but the loss of her sister took a little of that control with her. aiyana has had to shut off any empathy that may have remained in the years since her nde in order to keep those more pesky emotions at bay. emotions too strong can cause aiyana to draw too much power and burn out. it took yana a solid year before they had any real control over the lightning. their grief was still too raw and she’d yet to figure out how to fit it in the tiny little box in the back of her mind. once they figured out how to compartmentalize her emotions and stow them away, aiyana was off to the races. in the past six years, yana has - for the most part - mastered their abilities.

VULNERABILITIES & DRAWBACKS

use of her powers, especially when yana uses significant amounts or for longer periods of time, causes static electricity. she’ll accidentally shock people for days afterwards. it’s easily one of their least favorite side effects of being an eo. there’s also the exhaustion and dehydration, though they’ve come to combat those fairly easily in the years since their nde. occasionally, when an unexpected emotion hits - which is rare these days - and she’s holding any sort of device that requires electricity, she’ll short circuit it. yana has burnt out a few too many iphone components for her liking, if we’re being honest. over the years, aiyana has come to feel at home with the slight hum that her powers bring. being cut off from the lightning now would almost feel like cutting off a limb. any sort of eos power with the ability to smother or overload them with electricity would be detrimental and, though she’s loath to admit it, terrifying.

CODENAME

aiyana hates the whole codename thing. theirs was bestowed upon them by some geeky superhero blogger that decided she needed some whack moniker as well. she prefers to go by her given name, but has accepted that there’s less than nothing they can do about the codename. though, get her in the right mood and she may give ya a little zap.

003. EXTRA

honestly…if you made it through all that mess, bless you.

stats. pinterest. wc.

there will be a full wanted connections page, but until i get my shit together and get that finished, have some more mess.

fellow baddies! give me a gang of just…the best of the worst. let them be hot! do crime! wreck all the havoc humanly possible. i really just want shenanigans, tbh.

uhhhhh someone to remind yana she is human? and has emotions? and they’re not the worst thing to have? they’ll hate it and i’m really living for it. can be platonic or romantic or somewhere in between. i’m truly not picky. just make them feel the things, pls. i beg.

i also beg for found family type ish. aiyana is v much on her own and she’ll never admit it but she capital h Hates it. it would have been a JourneyTM to get to the familial point, but she needs it. their love language is bullying, though, so uuuuhhh sorry?

hook. ups. yana is so insanely sex positive and they are not shy about it.

perhaps an ex? long term relationships haven’t been yana’s jam in years, but it’s possible she has at least one. mayhaps two?

literally anything. throw it at me. i'll eat it up.

#cc.intro #cc.task #so this is way too long and i'm so sorry #there are no typos if you see one .....lies

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