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awkward-halfhug · 2 months ago

Text

to soften rough edges | gally x oc

series summary: Subject B10 Rosalind Franklin (Frankie) was supposed to be sent to Group B. Due to a mixup by an incompetent WICKED employee, she was sent to Group A, the all-boys maze.

How will her unexpected appearance affect the variables, the Glade, and the lives of everyone in it?

For one Glader in particular, Frankie might be changing, not only his present, but his entire life going forward. And not because he can't get her to stop following him around like a baby duck.

...Well, not only

(also on my ao3)

chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

6.9k

concerned friends and borrowed clothes

Frankie woke up before sunrise. Although, technically she'd woken up about a million times in the night, tossing and turning. She felt awake, but not rested.

It had been a weird day yesterday. Frankie was hoping today would be more normal. Don't get her wrong, she thought it was super sweet that Gally, Newt, Alby and the Keepers were looking out for her. She felt better than before about it all. A little bit anyways. But she still felt ....uneasy. She didn't want to tell Gally that, though. He seemed worried enough as it was and there wasn't actually anything wrong today. She just felt weird about the whole thing still.

But...she did tell Gally she wouldn't keep things from him. She told him she would tell him about her weird feelings, even if she thought they weren't a big deal. And this didn't feel like a big deal to her. But he did say he wanted to hear about her not-big-deal thoughts and feelings. Right? Or was this too small of a not-big-deal? Was she supposed to tell him all of her feelings? She had a lot of them; did he want an update at the end of every day?

No. That's probably not what he meant. Probably just the stuff like if she feels safe or not. Right? That's basically what he said, wasn't it? Frankie frowned. She couldn't remember his exact wording right now. She'd ask him later.

Lying in her hammock, Frankie took a deep breath and tried to put her confused thoughts aside for a moment.

She stared up at the tree limbs above her. A bird tweeted from somewhere nearby; she couldn't see from where, but it was somewhere from the left. A few moments later an answering tweet sounded from her right. Such a pretty conversation. Frankie wondered if their conversations ever sounded pretty to the birds.

She tried to focus on them. On the birds. Tried to wonder what they were saying. Wondered if it counted as eavesdropping if she couldn't understand what the chirps meant.

Then she heard Gally start to stir beside her and she realized the sun was rising. The day would start and Frankie would have to start with it.

She'd be training with the Track-hoes today. She had liked learning with the Med-Jacks yesterday. She hoped today would go just as well. Training-wise anyway. Newt would be there, at least.

She stretched her limbs out like a cat, straining the muscles until she couldn't anymore. She immediately regretted the action as her muscles relaxed and she practically melted into her hammock in comfort. She should've done that hours ago; maybe she'd have gotten more sleep. Now, as she was supposed to get up, she felt relaxed enough for proper rest. Go figure. Frankie really didn't like this whole stressing all night thing. She dared to hope the day wouldn't require too much of her physically, but she knew that was a dumb thought. She'd need to be awake for whatever job she did.

"You okay?" Gally asked groggily, and Frankie realized she'd sighed. Gally yawned as he maneuvered his legs to the floor and rubbed his face.

"Just tired. Didn't sleep very much."

Gally grunted and stretched his arms over his head. "How come?"

"I dunno. Too many thoughts. Yesterday was a lot."

Gally nodded, eyebrows high, in obvious agreement. "Well, today will be different." He got to his feet. "But anything happens, you come get me, right? We agreed on that?"

Actually they'd only agreed she'd tell him. She figured that meant whenever they ran into eachother, or at the end of the day. The thought of searching him out immediately if something happens is a strange one. She felt an uncomfortable twinge in her stomach at the idea of pestering him at work. But if this is what he'd meant, then he must not be bothered by the thought like she is. And truthfully, it did sound nice to be able to turn to him immediately in any times of need.

"Yeah. Agreed." Frankie smiled tiredly at him, and got up from her hammock as well. "Shower?" She looked at Gally hopefully.

He smiled apologetically at her. "Only if your clothes are ready. Sloppers are in charge of laundry and they've got a lot of boys'–people's– clothes to wash. If they've even washed yours yet, they might not be dry."

So no shower every day. "How long does it usually take the clothes to get done?" Frankie asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. Gally was right, there were a lot of boys here, so a lot of laundry to get done everyday.

"Sometimes a day, sometimes two or three. Sometimes four, depending on how lazy the Sloppers are. Usually it's two days, though." Gally looked somewhat uncomfortable giving this information. "So yeah. No, um, no daily showers. Sorry." He averted his eyes as he pulled his boots on.

Frankie considered this while she pulled her boots on as well. Two days might not be too bad. It's not a week. And she can imagine she'd be too tired some days to take a shower if she was honest with herself. Thinking about it, she didn't actually want to take a shower this morning anyway. Would she be cleaner? Yes. But she was tired. This kind of gave her an excuse to be lazy.

"It's okay." Frankie told him. Actually, was it? Frankie covertly sniffed her armpits while Gally's back was turned. Okay, yeah, she was fine. This was okay.

"I'll be working on better locks for the bathroom and showers today. In the meantime, you'll have a guard whenever you shower. Hope you don't mind."

Frankie didn't mind, depending on who it was. Once Gally told her who had volunteered though, she felt completely at ease with the idea.

Gally and Frankie each got their boots on, and they walked together to breakfast in comfortable silence.

"Hey Fry, how are you today?"

Frypan gave Frankie a long assessing look before replying. "I'm good Frankie. Are you good?"

Frankie thought about it for only a moment. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Fry raised his brow. "Okay? You sure?"

Frankie nodded. "I'm sure."

Nodding to himself, Frypan started piling food on a plate, hesitated, then added a couple more spoonfuls of scrambled eggs, and adding an apple for good measure. " That's good to hear. But if you're ever not good" Frypan leveled a serious look directly into Frankie's eyes, "you can tell me."

Frankie smiled at the sweet boy. As he handed her the plate. "Okay, Fry."

"And if you ever feel like you'd rather sit back with me again during a meal than out there with those losers, that's just fine with me babygirl, you know that."

"Gotcha."

Frypan pulled her plate back and spooned one last bit of eggs onto her plate and then handed it back.

"Okay, now, go on, git." He told her, relishing her answering giggle.

The sun was hot in the sky today, and it was still morning. Frankie was walking with Newt over to the fields to start Track-hoe training. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the strip of fabric Gally had ripped off his own shirt and used as a make-shift hair tie the day before. She pulled her hair into it and knotted it behind her head again.

She was feeling good today, despite the heat. Breakfast was good. Frypan was sweet, and although he'd given her too much food, Gally had shown no hesitation eating whatever she had left on her plate. He'd sat next to her, and whether he knew it or not, he was in the perfect position to shield her from view of Joe. Which, she shouldn't need. It's not like his eyes on her could harm her. But somehow she still didn't want him looking at her. She was very glad for Gally, in many ways.

So, breakfast was good. Her hair was off her neck now, and she was ready to go.

Newt was walking next to her and kinda giving her not covert glances out of the corner of his eye every now and then.

"What's wrong?"

Newt looked startled to be caught. "Oh, uh. Just...you're good, yeah?"

"Yes, Newt. I'm good." She smiled at him but the wrinkle in his brow didn't go away. It was sweet of him to worry, but he looked a little too worried. "So, what are we doing today?"

Newt shook his head as if to shake the thoughts into place. "Uh, we'll have to introduce you to Zart first; he's Keeper. Technically he'll be giving you your job for today, but most likely harvesting, at some point at least. Cucumbers look about ready. And avocados." A smile finally lit his face as he remembered about the avocados.

"Avocados, really?" Frankie didn't remember eating any avocados, obviously. Just images of them flashing in her head to remind her what they were. But she did have a feeling she liked them. The images left her feeling happy. And they were cheering Newt up, and that, she was excited about.

Newt seemed to animate even more. She wasn't sure if he was just this excited about his job usually, or if he liked avocados this much. "Really! This is the second year they've actually produced any fruit. There are so many! We had some good rain and Zart was thinking that extra water must be important since they produced so much more than last year, when we had less rain."

Newt had started using his hands in his explanation and Frankie couldn't help smiling at her friend's enthusiasm for the fruit. Or possibly farming in general, since he was still just as excited when he started talking about the tomato yield so far. He was just telling her about the wheat being near ready to harvest when they arrived at the farming area.

Frankie had seen the fields and orchards from afar, but up close they looked so expansive. She found herself both excited to get started and a little overwhelmed. Newt had quieted and was giving her a minute to take it all in. She looked from left to right and stood on her tiptoes to see how far the wheat went on for.

"You ready, greenie?" Newt asked her.

Frankie trailed her hand along a few stalks of wheat. Poky.

"Yeppers."

Newt led her to a storage shed where Zart and a few other boys were pulling on gloves and grabbing various tools.

Zart was a tall boy, stocky, blonde and fair skinned. Although he wasn't necessarily mean, he didn't smile upon greeting her. Instead, he immediately turned and called the other Track-hoes around him.

Without warning, he began telling all the boys about new rules and how not to be a creep, and she should've been prepared for this she knew, but it felt like yesterday all over again. The boys kept giving her curious glances and she felt their eyes boring into her. She felt embarrassed. The sun felt like it was pricking at her skin hotter than before. She tried to focus on Zart but now all she could think about was how hot she was and how people were staring, and how Zart smelled really bad. Just, really bad. She felt bad for thinking it immediately. He smells like flowers she tried to convince herself. But then she felt bad for lying to herself. Lying is bad. But maybe he smelled like... not-so-great smelling flowers? No. Best to face facts. The boy smelled like spoiled milk.

Suddenly, Zart was looking at her as if she was expected to answer him, or do something. Had he finished the rules talk and assigned her to work? But work on what? She hadn't paid attention! Was it his fault because of the spoiled milk smell, or hers for not ignoring it and not paying attention? Probably hers. But in her defense, the smell was getting harder to endure the longer she stood there.

He was still looking at her, now with a little confused furrow in his brow. Darn it! Distracted again. Stupid milk!

"Ummm..."

Newt stepped forward, placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled at Zart. "I'll just help her get familiar with everything then, shall i?" It seemed like Newt was deferring to Zart as the actual keeper of the Track-hoes, but Frankie got the feeling Newt was speaking with his Second-in-Command voice.

She was glad for it.

As Zart gave an indifferent shrug and went back to what he was doing, Newt led her to the tools and leaned in close to Frankie's ear. "Didn't get a word did you?" He asked.

Could Newt be a mind reader? "Yeah...how–?"

Newt pursed his lips and nodded his head sagely. "Bad milk, right?"

She was even more shocked. "Yes!" She exclaimed. Then, looked around and noticed others looking over, curious at her outburst. "Yes", she whispered, "how did you know?

"It's generally hard to focus on anything Zart says when you first meet him. Every greenie has the same trouble with it. After a while you get used to it, and can remember critical details he's mentioned, but it does take a while to get to that point, let me tell you."

She was doubly glad Newt had her back today.

They got her set up with a pair of gardening gloves and a basket.

"So what was it Zart was talking about?" She asked timidly, still feeling bad about focusing on poor Zart's milk smell.

"Harvesting, like I figured. There's a lot to get done."

"What are we harvesting?" Frankie asked as she pulled on the gloves.

"Avocados" Newt waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.

"Ah, the prized fruit. And on my first day!"

Newt nodded seriously. "Right-o. Count yourself fortunate."

Newt led her to the avocados trees, where a few other boys were already picking fruit.

"Lee. Wil." Newt gave a nod to each boy. Frankie recognized them vaguely, but she didn't think she'd actually met them. But apparently this wasn't the time for big introductions. Frankie barely managed a wave to each boy and a shouted "Hi, I'm Frankie!" In their direction, to which she received nods in return, before Newt was leading her past them toward the rows of trees with brown and green ovular fruits hanging on them.

"Ta-da" Newt turned to her and did jazz hands in front of the avocados and Frankie laughed. Newt smiled, pleased.

"Alright, now, these ones here," Newt pointed to several fruit that were more green than brown. "These need to stay on the tree a little bit longer. Ooh, especially you, little fella."

Frankie giggled.

"These, right here," Newt plucked one of the avocados he was now indicating, "are ready." He tossed her the avocados and she squeaked while reaching, then juggling, then promptly dropping the avocado.

Frankie picked it up and frowned. It had a squished spot now.

Newt snorted. "I'll make sure to tell Frypan that one's all yours, then, shall I?"

Frankie narrowed her eyes at him and when he turned his back toward the trees again, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Saw that." Newt said, without turning somehow.

Frankie's eyes widened and she slowly retracted her tongue.

Clearing her throat, Frankie walked up beside Newt. "So just pick the brown ones?"

"Well, almost. You've gotta check how it feels too. Like this one, see?" He hands her an avocado. "Feel that? Yeah, that one's just right. That one on the other hand, you feel that?" He switched the avocados in their hands. "This one needs another day or two. Probably."

"Probably?"

"It's not an exact science, Frankie. It's basically just fondling the things until you find ones squishy enough."

Frankie scrunched her nose at his wording. Just, all of his wording. That whole sentence, she didn't like.

"Okay..." Frankie eyed the tree for an appropriately brown looking fruit and specifically did not fondle the thing, she simply...groped it...no. Uh...man-handled? It? That sounded marginally better in her head. She man-handled the fruit, pressing down—

"Gently!"

— gently, with her fingertips. It gave a little and she made sure not to press any harder in case it bursted. "I think this one's good. Right?" Frankie looked to the boy for his input.

Newt grabbed the avocado and inspected it himself before smiling. "That's perfect. Now, just keep doing that and I'll get us a basket for our findings. Be back in a jiff."

Smiling, Frankie set out in search of more perfectly ripe avocados. This day was going to be easy.

———

This day was not easy. Who knew that just moving her arms repetitively could be so exhausting? She could not believe the boys around her have been doing this day in and day out and their arms haven't fallen off. Yet. It's gotta be just a matter of time for them at this point.

The other thing was, Frankie wasn't sure she had this whole manhandling-till-she-found-the-ripest-avocado thing down as well as she thought she did. It was just, after the first few avocados, she started to compare with the last ones and she couldn't tell if the fact that the newer ones were squishier meant that she'd picked unripe ones before or if they were both ripe and she was overthinking it. Maybe there was some ripe-ness wiggle room.

Regardless, because of this, she wasn't sure if she'd picked too many or too few avocados. Or, perhaps, just the right amount. Frankie had an image of three bears flash in her head for a moment but couldn't quite figure out what that had to do with the avocados.

They were all in the basket Newt had given her. He was working at another tree down the row. He was much faster at this than she was. Practice, she supposed. And confidence, certainly. She wished she had his fruit-picking confidence.

She lifted the basket and practically dragged it beside her, heading for Newt. The basket was much heavier than she'd expected. Either the fruit were much heavier than they looked, or Frankie's arms lacked a certain athleticism she was beginning to suspect she was going to need in the Glade. Could be both.

She huffed as discreetly as she could as she drag-carried the basket to just beside the boy. Frankie took a moment to catch her breath.

"Alrighty, now what?"

Newt looked up from his fruit man-handling and flicked his eyes from her to the basket and back. "Oh, good haul. Just take that on over to the Homestead for the Cooks to do what they will with, and then come back here."

Frankie felt herself panicking at the thought of lugging the evil little fruit all the way to the Homestead and trudging back. Newt must've seen it on her face because he got a bemused look in his own face and then offered "Or, I could do that, and you could flag down Brandon for some water, yeah? How's that sound?"

Frankie smiled gratefully. "Sounds really good. Thank you."

"'Course. Be back." Newt took her basket with apparent ease, and began the trek to the Homestead.

Except, actually, the avocados must be at least a little heavy for him as well, because he was now walking funny. Frankie felt relieved it wasn't just her.

Turning, she set out to look for Brandon, who she assumed must be in the general vicinity if she could flag him down from here.

———

When Newt returned, Frankie waved him over to where she and Brandon were standing. She figured Newt could use a water break as well. Watching him make his way over to her, she was doubly glad she did. The funny walk from earlier had become more pronounced. Those avocados must've done a number on him. Maybe she wasn't the only one not quite cut out for physical labor. Although, if that was the case for Newt, why was this his job, she wondered.

He reached her, not out of breath in the slightest and she frowned just slightly. Maybe he was cut out for this. But the funny walk... Hmm..

"This for me, Frankie? You're a right sweetheart."

"Uhh, I brought you the water, actually." Brandon looked affronted. Rightfully so, as he did actually lug all this water over here in buckets, which was probably even heavier than the avocados that were giving Frankie such a hard time.

"Yeah, but you ignore me when I try to flag you down, yet you come for her. She's the reason I've got a drink right now and we both know it. Ergo, you are not the sweetheart in this scenario, Brandon."

Frankie frowned a little at Brandon. "Why don't you bring Newt water?"

Brandon huffed a long-suffering sigh and glanced at Newt. "Rat."

Newt shrugged, sipping his water. "Rats gotta drink, too."

Brandon rolled his eyes and looked back to Frankie. He shrugged. " 's'heavy."

"But Brandon, what if you ignore his hand when he's been working really hard in the field all day, and he's tired and he's sweat all of the water out of his body and Newt dies of dehydration? You'd have to live with his blood on your hands for the rest of your life! You can't want that, Brandon, seriously!" Frankie pleaded, her eyes urgent.

Brandon looked incredulously from her to Newt. 'Blood on my hands?' He mouthed to Newt.

Newt smirked. " Hey mate, if you can live with that on your conscience, on your head be it. Me, I'd listen to the girl."

Frankie nodded enthusiastically, looking serious as a heart attack.

Brandon sighed. "Fine. I'll...work harder" he

grumbled, looking down and kicking a rock with his foot.

Frankie's face flooded with relief. "Thank you, Brandon!"

Brandon laughed. "For you. And so that my hands stay free from blood guilt."

Frankie smiled up at Newt victoriously, and Newt smiled back.

After finishing both their cups of water, Newt waved Brandon off, with a murmured, "Thanks. For once."

Frankie smacked him slightly.

"For this. Thanks for this, mate."

"Yeah, yeah." Brandon waved at both Newt and Frankie before picking up his buckets of water and wandering toward another patch of probably thirsty Gladers.

"Alright, next up. Tomahtoes."

Frankie smiled. "Tomaytoes?"

"'S what i said."

Frankie hummed happily and followed Newt to the tomato vines.

———

The sun felt like it was beating directly down onto Frankie's neck. Her pits were sweaty and her face was overheated, but it was her neck that felt like it was on fire.

Frankie looked at the others working around her, in between fields and orchards and vines. The sun was beating down on all of them the same and yet no one was complaining. Frankie was impressed, but a little sad at the thought that they had to deal with this oppressive heat on them every day. It felt like the sun was actively attacking her, with his fiery hand searing into her nape.

Now that she was feeling the heat to its full extent, she started noticing something she probably should have noticed earlier. Several of the boys had what looked like sunburns on their faces or necks or arms or even their legs. The most skin she saw, the more red. Some were more obvious than others, like Zart, because of how pale his skin was. Earlier, Frankie was mostly trying to not think about what he smelled like; she hadn't paid that much attention to him besides that, which she felt bad for. But she could see him picking vegetables a little ways off and he definitely had the worst sunburn of everyone there.

The poor boy.

Newt came over to her to switch out baskets with her. He'd instructed her on how to pick the right tomatoes and she'd been working at it for a while. Her basket was nearly full, but not completely, so before switching hers out for the empty one in Newt's hand, she picked one last plump looking tomato off the vine and placed it on top of its brothers and sisters in the basket. She then handed it over to Newt and smiled.

"You're getting the hang of things quick, aren't you?"

Frankie preened. Ignoring the ache in her arms and back, and all the sweating, maybe she could do this as a job. Newt seemed to like her progress so far, anyway.

"Alright, lunch time."

Frankie's stomach grumbled as if in answer to Newt, and they both laughed.

They headed first to the shed to put their gloves and baskets down, and then made for the Homestead for lunch.

Looking at her companion as they walked, Frankie frowned. Newt was still walking funny.

"Hey Newt?"

"Hmm?" He glanced at her. She noticed he was a step behind her, so she slowed her pace to match his.

"Are you okay?"

Newt smiled confusedly at her. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"It's just just, you've been walking a little weirdly since earlier. I thought maybe you twisted your ankle or something."

Newt's eyes widened for a second but then he averted his eyes and they returned to normal. "Ah. No need to worry, love. Just an old injury, sometimes flares up with exertion, that's all."

"An old injury?"

"Yep." Newt nodded, then turned to face ahead of them.

Frankie wanted to ask him what happened, but when they neared the lunch line, Newt started talking about vegetables again, and she figured maybe he didn't want to talk about it.

———

Lunch left her feeling full and happy. She had sat with Wil and Lee at their lunch table, and actually got to talk with them, without fields of veggies in the way. They were both nice to her, and she made them both laugh when she asked them to list their top three favorite vegetables. She wasn't sure why they laughed, exactly, but it made her happy she accomplished it anyway.

But now, they were all spread out amongst the rows of fields again. This time, Newt had put her to work weeding, and she didn't like it nearly as much as picking fruit.

The boys around her that were also weeding were all squatting while they picked weeds, and she'd started out doing the same. But boy, was that not something her legs enjoyed. Pretty much all of her legs, but especially her calves and thighs and even her ankles, were pleading with her to put an end to the torture within minutes of her attempting to pull the weeds that way.

She decided torturing her poor legs wasn't getting the job done any better than if her legs weren't being tortured, so she forewent the squatting altogether and sat down completely on the floor, and started pulling weeds that way.

She did not think she had ever had a better idea than this one. She didn't know why everyone wasn't simply sitting on the ground, but if they truly wanted their legs to hate them, it wasn't for her to judge. That was between them and their own legs. Her legs, however, were thanking her.

That wasn't to say the weeding was pain-free, exactly. Her back did hurt from hunching, but Frankie resigned herself to some sort of pain, and she found her back was more tolerable.

She got into a rhythm. Sit down, pull weeds, stretch out her back, and then crawl over to the next section, and repeat. She did this until Zart found her. His only response was a tilted head, a wrinkle in his brow and a confused sounding "Okay...?" She was going to ask him if she was doing a good job but before she could, he was already shaking his head slightly while he huffed a laugh under his breath and then he just walked off again.

She was sweating like a dog by the time Newt found her later. Or wait, no. Dogs don't sweat, do they? That was why they pant, wasn't it? Because they can't sweat. A pig then. She was sweating like a pig. But actually, couldn't pigs not sweat either? They rolled around in the mud to cool off, didn't they? Well, she was sweating like something that actually sweats, at any rate. Despite her earlier conversation with Gally, she was really hoping her clothes were clean.

Newt had his hands on his hips and an amused look on his face as he looked down at her. He looked like he was holding back a laugh.

"Really getting in there, huh?"

"Hmm?" Frankie asked. Sort of. If 'hmm' counted as a question, anyway.

"Becoming one with the soil. Getting dirt under your fingernails...et cetera." Newt snorted.

Ah. Yes, that did seem to be a side effect of her weed plucking method. The boys around her looked sweaty and exhausted but none looked quite as 'one with the soil' as she did.

"I stand by my choices." Frankie insisted.

"Right. Well, whatever gets the job done, suppose." Newt shrugged. "Come on, let's drop off our gloves, and maybe you can shake yourself out like a dog before we head to dinner, yeah?"

She should probably be offended, but the imagery made her laugh.

She did, indeed, do her best impression of a dog before dinner. It did practically nothing. Newt laughed at her all the way to dinner.

———

Gally saw Frankie approaching their usual table with Newt in tow. The other boy gave Gally a nod before turning toward Frankie.

"Good work today" Newt told her, and she beamed. "Alright, supper's calling. I'll see you shanks later." And with that, the boy took his place in line.

Frankie unceremoniously plopped herself down onto the bench and flopped her upper body on the table in front of her.

Gally snorted. "You good there?"

Frankie grunted into the table.

"That bad, huh?" Gally tried to keep the humor out of his voice, but her dramatics were making it hard.

She mustered what looked to be all the strength left in her body and lifted her head. "I didn't realize how tired I was until just now. I don't think I can move my body anymore today." She looked forlornly at him.

"You're not gonna go to bed then? Just gonna stay there all night?"

He watched in amusement as she nodded her head in resignation of the idea. "I'm going to have to."

"What about food? Not gonna get in line?"

At that, her head slowly turned until she stared in dramatic longing at the kitchen. Her bottom lip pouted. "No food for me."

Gally barked out a laugh and rose from his seat. "Alright, well, I'm gonna go see what Frypan's cooked up. You just keep melding with the table."

Standing in line, Gally's eyes snagged on Scott and Henry, huddled up at their usual table, looking like they were having a serious conversation. They kept sneaking glances at Frankie, and while that got a raised eyebrow from him, Gally was now at the front of the line and had to focus on the task at hand.

By the time Gally returned to his and Frankie's table, Henry and Scott were approaching from the other direction.

Gally placed his plate of food down, and then placed another in front of Frankie's nose. The girl's face lit up as she looked from the food to him and back again.

"You fed me!"

Gally smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get used to it."

Frankie ignored that and clapped her hands in excitement, before digging it.

He'd almost forgotten the boys' impending approach until they were in front of their table. Too busy watching Frankie do a little happy dance in her seat while she ate.

Henry cleared his throat and both Gally and Frankie looked up. Scott was standing a bit behind Henry, blocking him from Frankie's view. Both boys had looks of concern on their faces. Finally, Henry spoke up.

"Hey Gally. Frankie. Look, I'll cut to the chase; are you okay?"

Frankie looked confused for a moment, still enjoying her mouthful.

"Did something happen? We heard those rules today, and well, we got worried."

It seemed to dawn on Frankie what they were talking about then, and she looked down at her plate. "No, it's okay, nothing–"

Gally cut her a look.

"–nothing serious happened."

Gally rolled his eyes at her downplaying the situation. Henry looked comforted by her words, but Scott still looked, rightfully, concerned.

He stepped forward. In a quieter voice than Gally was used to hearing from the boy, Scott spoke. "If someone's uh, bothering you...you can, tell us, about it. We'll uh, we'll have your back."

Frankie changed from avoiding eye contact to looking up at the two boys. She looked touched. "Thank you. Really."

Scott nodded, and then just sort of stood there, avoiding looking at the girl again, until Henry took initiative and sat down at their table, pulling Scott down beside him.

Guess they had company now.

Henry changed the subject and the slight tension in Frankie's shoulders eased up. The conversation turned to some trouble some of the animals got into at Henry's job today, and Frankie's eyes lit up.

"Hey, actually, I have a question for you, Henry."

"Go for it." Henry nodded encouragingly.

"Do pigs sweat?"

Gally laughed at her random question, but then something caught his eye.

"Hey, uh, I'll be back. Bathroom."

——

Joe was leaving the bathroom as Gally approached. This was not a coincidence and they both knew it.

Joe saw him and barely bat an eye, making to walk past him. Gally shot an arm out and stopped the boy.

For a moment Gally just stared at him, eyes boring into the other boy's. Joe, however, seemed unfazed, even bored. "What?"

"If you so much as think about her again, I'll make you wish you were banished."

Joe remained unbothered. "Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise" Gally's voice was steady as he said it and he found he meant it.

Joe had the audacity to look amused. "And what are you gonna do if I do? You can't hurt me, unless you want to be banished yourself. And then who would protect poor little Frankie, hm?" Joe pouted with mock-concern.

Gally just glared at the other boy. It was all he could do, and they both knew it.

"That's what I thought" Joe scoffed, before walking past Gally, making sure to knock his shoulder hard into Gally's as he did so.

Gally seethed in silence as he watched the shank retreat.

——

By the time Gally returned to the table, after using the restroom and taking a few minutes to calm down, dinner seemed to be over. Fine by him because his appetite was effectively gone.

The only people left were a few slow eaters at various tables, and Frankie. She had waited for him. He managed a smile at that.

"You think you can work up enough energy to walk to bed, or is that your new pillow?"

Frankie's head popped up from its position resting on the table and she hopped off the bench with newfound energy.

"I think I can manage now that my belly's full." She grinned toothily up at him.

"Mmhmm. I can see that." They began to walk at a leisurely pace.

"Actually..." Frankie looked up at Gally with big eyes. "So I know we just talked about it this morning, but do you think we could check to see if my clothes are done yet? I kinda..." Frankie holds her arms out from her body and then lets them fall back to her sides.

Now that she'd brought it up, he couldn't help but tease her a little.

"Yeah, how are you so dirty? I see Track-hoes every day and they manage to keep their dirt to a minimum, but you..."

Frankie laughed, letting out an offended "Hey!"

"What'd you do, roll around in the soil?" He was mostly teasing her reaction, but he was also genuinely curious. How had she managed to get this filthy?

Frankie blushed as she answered. "I didn't roll around...exactly." She then explained her particular method of pulling out weeds.

Gally blinked for a moment. He then laughed, good at hard. He couldn't decide if it was an incredibly lazy or ingenious way to work in the fields. She started to defend herself but the image of her on her butt, picking weeds, then crawling hands and knees like a child to another spot to then plop down on her butt again, just made him laugh harder.

He was still laughing when they got to their hammocks but he reigned it in when he saw the little pout on her face.

Remembering her original question, Gally sighed. "Well, unfortunately, if your clothes aren't at your hammock," which clearly, they weren't, " then the sloppers haven't finished with them."

Frankie looked unsurprised but still disappointed. He wished he could do something to fix it but he couldn't make her clothes appear out of nowhere.

Then he realized he could do something that would take that look off her face. At the low, low price of his own hygiene for the next few days.

"If you wanted though" Gally said, rummaging through a pile of his things by his hammock, "I've got some clothes I can change into."

Frankie hesitated to take the bundle of clothes from his hands.

"Clean! Clean clothes!" Gally cleared his throat. "They're just, they're mine. These ones weren't..." They weren't as gross as they could be and he had been too lazy to shower is what he wasn't going to say. "Uh, the point is, you can wear them, until yours are clean."

Frankie still looked hesitant. "Are you sure? I don't want to take your only other clothes. What will you change into?"

"I'll be fine, Frankie. Just take them."

Finally, she grabbed the pile of clothes, holding them carefully away from her dirty body. "Thank you Gally."

Gally was out a fresh pair of clothes, but the pleased little smile on the girl's face made that seem inconsequential somehow.

"Oh um" She looked up at him pleadingly again " would you mind being my, uh, shower...guard? I know you're probably tired, too. I'll try to be quick!"

"Not a problem."

———

Gally waited patiently outside the shower, listening to the sound of water sloshing and fabric shushing. He was pretty sure she dropped something at one point because he heard a thunk and a quiet "woopsies". Most of the time what he heard was humming, though. He wasn't sure if it was a song she'd made up or if it was a song from before she came here. She wasn't singing actual words, just sort of mumbling syllables every now and again. Whatever it was, it was off-key, he just knew it. For some reason, that made him smile.

Gally stayed alert, roving his eyes back and forth in case Joe or some other half-wit shank tried anything, but no one did. All was clear.

And then he heard the door open and Gally turned toward the sound and she–

She was in his clothes.

He knew she would be in his clothes. Intellectually, anyway. Gave them to her himself. This was his own plan. He'd counted himself a genius for coming up with it. Now, he wasn't so sure.

Gally swallowed.

They fit her differently than they did him obviously. She was like, a foot shorter than him, but also, she was a girl so she was a little...curvier...than he was. And that meant his clothes fit...different. they fit better and worse on her than on him. The pants fit better, at least. Probably the last time they fit him properly was when he was her height, he thought.

She was saying words. Thanking him and smiling and he was nodding helplessly, like there was nothing wrong. Assuring her it was "no problem at all". That was a lie, he was pretty sure, but he couldn't define why exactly and even if he could, he wouldn't dare try to explain it to Frankie.

And look, it wasn't like it wasn't obvious she was female in the other clothes she'd been wearing, or the ones she came out of the box in, but these were his clothes. There was a distinction somewhere in there that was making Gally's brain short circuit and his heart beat a little faster, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

They head back to the hammocks, Frankie still happily humming that unidentifiable tune.

The rest of the night was a blur in his head after that. He blinked and they were saying good night to one another, but his mind had been a whirl since they left the showers.

He couldn't get the sight of her in his clothes out of the forefront of his mind. And then the feel of her hair through his fingers when she asked him to help her detangle it again. The water from her hair dripping down her back onto his shirt.

It was fine. This was fine. The sloppers would finish her clothes soon and then he can stop feeling like whatever it is he was feeling and everything would be fine.

He squeezed his eyes tight against the image of her head turned toward him in her hammock, her smile soft and her eyes sleepy. Her voice quiet when she said "thank you, again, for everything."

He sighed as quietly as he could.

It was fine.

thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider commenting/reblogging. also please feel free to talk to me about the story in my ask box :)

#the maze runner fanfiction #the maze runner #tmr gally #tmr #maze runner #tmr gally x oc #gally #gally x oc #gally/oc #gally x fem!oc #gally fanfiction #tmr fanfiction #gally x original character

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your-local-bookworm · 1 year ago

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Stuff from my old writing book part #5 ?

This is so precious to me, because they were in the middle of a war and he fell in love with the girl who was trying to take over his father's throne.

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keanureevesisbae · 3 months ago

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♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ :forever yours masterlist: :;

(a Gally x original female main character!Nova fanfiction. set in the three movies)

Life in the Glade isn't easy. Life outside it isn’t either. Especially when you’re separated from the one you love.

Thanks to recovered documents and the account of a few surviving Gladers, the new world can learn from the mistakes made in history.

prelude

The Maze

nova // gally // nova // gally // more coming soon!

#the maze runner #the maze runner fanfiction #tmr gally #Gally #Gally fanfiction #Gally x fmc #Gally x original female main character #keanureevesisbae #forever yours #forever yours masterlist #the maze runner masterlist

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drummer-from-down-under · 1 month ago

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Friends for another day?

#crazy fun park #chester dante #mapplethorpe landis #violetta nakata #is it really a piece of media with a dead character without an edit to this guitar solo?#everyone thank my love for Stand By Me and The Maze Runner series for this one #this was originally supposed to be a sad edit of Chester and Mapplethorpe #...which it still is #but it also ended up becoming an episode 1 edit #i have another episode edit for this show but I don't like it nearly as much as this one so I'll just work on it for now #the reason only two of the splits go right to left is because of where they are so it made more sense to do it like that #it would have flipped for each of them but it was so important to me that those two went right to left that #it meant that it was going to double up once and look off so I just made all of the ones in the middle go left to right #I am working on a happy edit of them! I AM! ...kinda.

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raps-hellion · 1 year ago

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enemies to less-enemies feat. minho (beloved) and wolf (idiot).

#the maze runner #the maze runner fanart #minho the maze runner #original character #original art #digital art #illustration #theyre like if two jocks held hands

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bri-the-fando-meister · 2 years ago

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A Long Time Coming

Gally X Original character female (OC IS THE POV)

TW: Assault, fight, yelling, first-time sex

Shit, I'm doing smut. Hate me later, read it now

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The backstory:

You and Gally had a relationship that many would call, a love hate relationship. You could barely say you were friends, you had a tolerance for each other, yeah, that's what it was, a tolerance.

Now being the only girl in the glade however, it kind of made you like the fact that Gally wasn't begging for you to do him, it was actually somewhat nice, having someone that hated you.

You, Paisley the rebellious Paisley hated? Never. The fact that the boys were head over heels for you was, definitely something.

------------------------------------------------

"Hey Paisley, are you actually going to build or what?"

"Oh darling, go buy a bloody brain. You, shank, should already know that I rather climbing all the things that we, I mean you, dearest Gally builds."

"Oh, fuck you Paisley."

"I mean, if you insist" you look at Gally, grinning, but you knew if you went at it much longer you would step the line.

"I'd be in the right mind to call a bloody meeting of my fellow keepers and have you thrown in the slammer. Tread lightly, shuckface."

Now, as you'd learn soon, Gally would keep his word.

"Well, Gally's point still stands. Paisley doesn't chip in, she does no work."

"Newt, c'mon. I am not meant to be a builder, I want to do something where I can get rid of my energy, roam free or something."

Newt pulled Minho to the side, it was definitely something, why the shuck would Newt involve Minho, he was a runner, not a builder or a keeper of anything even closely related, wait, he was a runner, he got rid of energy, and got to roam free. Shit, Newt didn't think, shuck did he?

Minho looked at you, then back at Newt. They continued to talk, after they talked, they nodded in agreement.

"Hey Alby, C'mere for a second."

"Yeah, Newt, Minho, what's up?"

They whispered again, this time, it was Alby who nodded.

"Everybody quiet down, we have come to a conclusion."

Each keeper in the room took to their seats without a word, waiting eagerly to see what you were in for.

"Gally, I would like you to state what has been happening, for everyone to understand the situation."

"Ok, as everyone knows, Paisley, is not a very hard worker, and of all the jobs in the glade, she has failed to do any of them. With me, she is a bit more tame, because she is seriously just climbing around, she has seriously only built one thing. A shucking climbing frame."

A few people laughed at Gally's proclamation, a few look at you in annoyance.

"Okay, okay. Newt and myself have come to an agreement with one of the other keepers. Paisley has stated that she needed to get rid of her energy and roam free. Make you think of a job anyone?"

Frypan was first to speak "Runner?"

"Right on mate, Minho has agreed to this."

Minho nodded, he always liked a challenge, but, the two most sarcastic and snarky people in the glade, being cooped up with each other for 6-8 hours at a time, that, could get interesting.

Gally rolled his eyes, "Come on, give her the title of being a runner and then she can stay in the shucking maze for as long as she wants, you won't be able to get her out of there."

"Now now Gally the superhero, keep on rolling your eyes, who knows, maybe one day you will find the brain I told you to buy. Anyways Gally, you are seriously concerned or something."

"Oh you stupid klunk, I am just saying that you will probably stay in there, hopefully getting trapped. Then we won't have to deal with your shenanigans anymore, don't you get it, you, don't, belong. You aren't normal" he said the last two sentences with spite.

"Gally, Gally, Gally. How hard it must be for you, using all of your vocabulary in one statement. Also, define normal."

"Paisley, how about we go outside." a voice said, it was manipulated, like Gally's but also like Newt's, assuming it was Newt's you just walked outside.

Only after you got a few meters outside of council hall did you turn around. There he was, Gally, looking fuming.

"You better watch your self, you are getting so fucking close to being dead meat. I promise you, you don't want to be a runner."

"Well I don't give a fuck"

Gally, the giant he was, towered over you furious.

"You aren't my keeper anymore, that is Minho's job now, you are now a fucking nobody to me in this glade, you are just, another, person"

Gally, not being able to hold his temper, swung at you, aiming for your gut. Luckily you ducked and elbowed his crotch, causing him to fold like a deck chair. Flinging a fist to his back he collapsed completely to the ground.

Gally flung his arm out and snatched your wrist, pulling you into him.

"I tolerated you, haven't you noticed that I was nicest to you. You don't understand, now you have stepped the line."

Gally pulled himself up, and still held your wrist.

He began to walk toward the slammer, pulling you along with him.

He grabbed your other wrist and put it into his other hand, he had both of your arms in the grip of one hand.

"Gally, stop it."

You wriggled your wrists, attempting to remove them from his grip, only to being given an even tighter grip and to be dragged even harder.

You were almost at the slammer when Gally spoke,

"You know, Paisley, there is a reason I have always picked on you, been really stubborn with you."

"Why is that, Gally, because I am fun to annoy, because I bite back?"

"Ughh, shuck it. It's because I fucking like you, you dumb shank, how hadn't you noticed. It's ruined anyways, no doubt about that."

Gally yanked the door to the slammer open.

It wasn't your first time being in the slammer, you had seen in when you were on the tour.

It smelled musty and sweaty. The walls were cracked and scratched at, they had a bit of graffiti on them too, typical boys. The ground, it was just dirt. Sitting in the middle of the slammer, covered in dirt, was the chair, the one that Nick, poor, poor Nick told you had 1 leg shorter to cause discomfort.

"Gally, what are we doing here. I don't under-" Your words were stopped by Gally pushing you in, this wasn't a gentle push, it was enough to send you into the opposite wall, even though the slammer wasn't that big.

The door slammed behind you, making you shudder.

"Gally, what the fuck has gotten into you."

"Paisley, I need you to listen to me, and don't interrupt me until I am done"

"Well it's not like I have a choice, is it?"

"Nope"

"Well go on then, I don't have all night"

"I have always told myself that, you were the only girl, that must have hardships, she probably has had enough with boys and their desires, so I should treat her how I treat my men, never make any exceptions, and crack down just as hard for anything she does. And for the most part, that is what happened. But Paisley, I like you, I like how you are sarcastic, I love that you can stand up for yourself. And I am sorry for trying to punch you earlier, I needed to get you here, so you would have to listen."

"Gally, slow down, let me out."

He complied, prepared for you to be angry.

The door creaked open and he got punched in the face with the smell of sweat and mildew.

You walked out, confidence filling your body, you had the upper hand, the ball was in your court.

"Gally, I can't believe you. I fucking can't believe it."

He was confused, he expected you to hit him already.

I mean, you did hit him, but, like, with a hug.

You slammed your body into his, pushing him backwards into the door, grasping your arms around him, savoring the warmth of his body, turning your head into his chest, you listened to his heart, it beat quite fast.

Gally smelled like clean, like fresh, he had the smell of soap, but a hint of lemongrass and dill.

-------------------------------------

Gally POV:

I thought she would have hit me, I made an outrageous statement, that I was in love with her, yet she took it so easily.

She just leapt at me, as a flash of black and blue. It all went so fast, I tried to stand firm, knowing that we were probably about to get in a fistfight.

I stood frozen for what felt like forever, and then she was on me, small little Paisley, the little fighter, but she wasn't fighting, she was embracing.

I don't know what got into me, I was paralyzed. She gripped her arms around my midriff and clawed at my back, pushing herself into me, refusing to let go.

My heart was pounding, I still don't know what got into me, the effect she was having was unrecognizable to any other emotion that I had.

-------------------------------------

He wasn't present in that moment, he was like a statue. That was until, you felt him begin to melt, his muscles relaxing and his bending over, leaning into you.

His arms drifted slowly around you, like they were light as a feather, he took care not to put too much pressure on your body.

You released your arms from his back, moving them up to his face, pulling his face in toward yours, closing the gap between you even more.

Your lips pressed together, slowly moving, creating a gentle suction, Gally grazed your lips with his teeth, making your lips tingle.

Gally moved his up and down your hips, pushing on them, all the while pulling you in.

Before you knew it, his hands slipped under your shirt and tried pulling it off, man, this boy has got some nerve, but you allowed him, momentarily stopping kissing.

Then he pulled off his shirt, showing his smooth, layered, rippling muscles, and his tanned skin, warm and inviting.

He pulled you behind the slammer, so nobody could see the two of you, making love after you just got into a fight.

Gently tracing up your arm, over your collar bone, up your neck and chin, he spoke soft words,

"Are you sure you are fine with this Pai?"

"Yes, yes, show me how much you have always wanted me." you spoke breathy, flustered and alarmed. He wanted you, shit, that is cool.

As soon as you had finished speaking, he grabbed both your hands in one of his, in a simple sweep, then he had them up and slammed them against the wall of the slammer.

He pushed his head into your neck and sucked, leaving marks, leaving hickeys.

Your breathing and your heartrate sped up and you couldn't stop yourself from making a small noise, a moan.

Gally let go of your hands and worked at removing your jeans, undoing the button, and undoing the zipper, before he finally pulled them off.

"Seriously Pai? Pink underwear, for the way you act, I would have thought it would be black hole colored."

You winced, embarrassed, but Gally took this as a chance to dominate you even more, he yanked your underwear down, dropping himself with it.

Peppering your abdomen with kisses was annoying, why can't he just get to the good stuff.

Then he began to finger you, effortlessly finding the right bundles of nerves on your skin, leaving you a trembling mess, shuddering and shaking.

You wrapped your fingers through his hair tugging at it. "Gally, we really shouldn't be doing this. It's too much."

"Pai, calm down, you don't need to get so concerned."

"Gally. Gally listen to me."

He stopped everything, and stepped back and looked down on you.

"What Pai, what is wrong, the fact that for once I am actually being nice for once?"

"No Gally, it just feels wrong doing, this. Especially when less than an hour ago we just fought each other. Maybe we can try this another day, please Gally, just let's take a break for a bit."

"Ok Pai, sorry I made you feel like that. But Pai, just remember I love you."

Gally stepped towards you.

"If you want to stop Paisley, I am fine with that, I only want to do what you are comfortable"

He cupped his hands around your cheeks and used his thumbs to massage up and down your cheek bones. He slid his hands around your head and dropped them behind your shoulders, pulling you into a gentle hug.

"I love you Pai, I love you Pai, you are so beautiful." he whispered into your ear.

"We can try again whenever you want. If that's okay with you."

"I love you Gally, thank you."

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Ok, it is finally done, this took way too long. Hope you enjoyed!

#tmr gally #fan made #maze runner the death cure #tmr minho #tmr newt #the maze runner #maze runner #tmr #tmr fandom #tmr alby #smut tmr #fem reader #female reader #gally x reader #tmr original character #smut writing #paisley is an icon

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f0linasahl0 · 2 months ago

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Thank you @blissfulbluee for tagging me!

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title/emoji that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

---

i have an excessive amount of WIPs bc i get too many ideas. i'll do the titles of the ones i've been working on or have opened in the past week. my fic titles are songs or lyrics usually bc i don't know what else to title them. there's so many bc i start but i don't know or don't remember how to end

-dragon eyes

-shades of cool

-fable

-half return

-cages and cases of starving birds and dead things

-not a lot just forever

-intertwined sewn together

-luvidity

-lividity (changed)

-don't let them see you like this

-family line

-what doesn't kill me makes me wish i was dead

-bad things happen to the people you love

-something buried right below the skin

-safe and sound

-my angel

-flowers of flesh and blood

-heavy focus

-glowing eyes

-this town will never change

-jobless monday

-two slow dancers

-my body is made of crushed little stars

-fleurs captives

-sahlo folina

-idle town

-treehouse

-villain and violent, infant and innocent (baby both arms cradle you now)

-departure

-pretty when you cry

-baby teeth

-leave the city

-x-scenes

-x-possible scenes

-essay for top lore

-blood moon

-sober to death

-brand new city (scenes)

-fire (alternate)

-fire(scenes)

-bag of bones

-coercion(planning)

-no matter how this ends i'll never be alone

-i want you to know i'm awake/i hope you're asleep

-the smell of the cold wet dirt reminds me of home

-come back

-pretend

-little league(scenes)

-sandy

-we never change

-genesis

-ashes

-rises the moon

-richter

-twenty one pilots

-brand new city

-a different age

-feel better

-the other side

- xX

-x

-misery meat

-rises the moon

collab fic with @blissfulbluee :

-one taste of your heart and i own your soul

-heart and soul call

-inho pov soju fic

i might be missing some but these are the ones i could find. a lot of them are OCs (not really [character] x OC for some of them but some of them are) there's so many bc i start them but never know how to finish them. it's so hard. do ask about any one of them if you're interested and for the collab fic i will answer questions about the inho pov writing and the heart and soul call (we called abt the idea)!

i don't really know who to tag so really anyone who wants to do this can! no pressure though

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frostyfoxx1 · 3 months ago

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introducing my ocs: general information

~Just a reminder that none of these characters are canon in the fandoms, I created them myself. Pictures aren’t mine but I will link the picrews with the characters.

Name: Lucky

Main fandom: PJO

Sexuality: Questioning (leaning towards Ace)

Gender: male

Pronouns: he/him

parent: Tyche

Age: 16

picrew: Character Maker

Name: Allie

Main fandom: Maze runner trilogy (glade B)

Sexuality: Lesbian

Gender: female

Pronouns: she/her

Parent: unknown

Age: 17

Picrew: Bitter Sweet dress up

Name: Cheri Heart

Main fandom: MLP (I am not ashamed-)

Sexuality: straight

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

parent: Rose Sword

age: ????

Picrew: Angry Unicorn

{More to be added soon}

#picrew #the maze runner #original character #oc #my ocs #ocs #mlp #pjo fandom

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controversiallynn · 6 months ago

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maze runner oc art

#maze runner #the maze runner #tmr fandom #art #digital art #fanart #maze runner oc #original character #oc #oc art #ocs #her name is barbara #barbara jane woods #controversy’s art

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tsawke-yayo · 26 days ago

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Jorge: This weekend's safety briefing

Jorge looking at Brenda and Fry: Do not add to the population

Jorge looking at Marigold: Do not substract from the population

Jorge looking at Thomas and Minho: Do not end up in an hospital, newspaper or jail

Jorge looking them all: If you do end up in jail establish dominance quickly

#oc #my oc #original character #marigold #tmr marigold #brenda #tmr brenda #frypan #tmr frypan #thomas #tmr thomas #tmr oc #the maze runner oc #the maze runner #tmr #incorrect quotes #minho #tmr minho

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awkward-halfhug · 3 months ago

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to soften rough edges | gally x oc

series summary: Subject B10 Rosalind Franklin (Frankie) was supposed to be sent to Group B. Due to a mixup by an incompetent WICKED employee, she was sent to Group A, the all-boys maze.

How will her unexpected appearance affect the variables, the Glade, and the lives of everyone in it?

For one Glader in particular, Frankie might be changing, not only his present, but his entire life going forward. And not because he can't get her to stop following him around like a baby duck.

...Well, not only

(also on my ao3)

chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

2.9k

soap bottles and stolen potatoes

The next morning started off better than the previous one.

Not only did Frankie not fall out of her hammock, but she also had a very specific place she was looking forward to visiting before breakfast. She was so excited. Alby had pointed it out to her the day before, during her tour of the Glade, but after everything with her injury and then crying all over Gally at dinner, she had been too exhausted last night. So, today it was. This morning. Right now!

Reaching the small building (more of a shack, really), Frankie stepped inside and could've cried with relief at what she saw.

Water. Two buckets full. And two rag-like towels, and a big bottle of what smelled like– she opened the cap and sniffed– yep, liquid soap of some sort. There was only one bottle, but that was okay. Frankie was just glad there was soap of any kind for her to bathe with.

She placed the mishmash bundle of fresh clothes Newt had handed her the day before on a stool next to the door. Then she quickly stepped out of her dirty clothes. She placed her dirty bra with the clean clothes so she could rewear it after her shower because, unsurprisingly, Newt hadn't been able to supply her with a fresh one. He had, however, given her some (clean, Newt swore) boxers to wear. He hadn't told her whose they were before but Frankie wasn't sure she wanted to know anyways.

She lathered up one of the rags with soap and water and got to work ridding herself of the grime of the past couple days. The rag was rough, and she was pretty sure showering usually involved three kinds of soap–one for the body and two for the hair, instead of just this one– but considering the were in some sort of weird teenager-prison where they had to live off the land as punishment for their unknown crimes, Frankie figured beggars couldn't be choosers.

Keeping her injured finger dry was a bit of a challenge, but she managed by holding her finger up and in the air while her other hand did most of the work. It looked like she was constantly telling the shower walls that she'd "be right with you in just a moment". She chuckled at the thought.

Frankie was just finishing up when she heard someone outside. She quickly dried off with the dry towel, hoping she hadn't taken too long.

Just as she was putting on her borrowed underwear, someone knocked on the rickety wood door of the shower and called her name. It sounded like that Joe guy; the one that smiled at her funny.

She started putting the clothes on quicker, not even caring if the baggy cargo pants or the faded gray t-shirt were on right. She wasn't sure exactly why it felt so urgent; she just had a feeling in her gut that it was.

"Frankie, you in there?" Joe called again. The door knob rattled, and Frankie had just enough time to tug her shirt all the way down, before the door was flung open.

"Hey!" Frankie yelped. "What do you think you're doing?" Her heart galloped in her chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone was in here." He didn't look very sorry.

Frankie frowned. She kept her eyes on him as she gathered the dirty laundry into her arms. "You were calling my name."

Joe shrugged. "Yeah, but you didn't answer. Could've been empty." He had that weird smile on his face again. Frankie decided it didn't matter what he was thinking, all she knew was that she wanted to get as far away from him and that weird smile of his, as fast as possible.

"Okay, well, it wasn't empty. Please wait longer next time. I've gotta go, goodbye."

Joe opened his mouth to say something but Frankie was already gone.

She was speed-walking to the Homestead as fast as she could– after making the briefest of pitstops at her hammock, to literally toss her dirty clothes on it and shove her bare feet into her socks and boots– when she ran into someone.

A pair of hands gripped her biceps to keep her upright. "Whoa whoa whoa, where's the fire, love? Frypan's just started serving breakfast, there'll be plenty when ya get there."

Frankie huffed a sigh of relief; it was only Newt.

Newt had been smiling at her, his brows scrunched in confusion, but it quickly changed to concern. He dropped his smile. "Okay, seriously, what's wrong?"

Frankie shook her head at herself. What was wrong? Literally nothing had happened and here she was running around like someone was chasing her.

Frankie peeked over her shoulder, just in case. No Joe. Obviously. He was probably still back there, taking a shower. She was just being silly.

"It's nothing." Frankie shook her head at herself. "I was taking a shower and Joe was trying to get in, and I don't know, I was just overreacting. Just freaked me out for a minute, that's all. Stupid."

Newt's frown deepened. "He was trying to get in the shower when he could hear it was being used?"

"Well, he called my name but I didn't answer, so i guess he figured it was empty." Frankie didn't know why she was defending him. The more she thought about it, though, the sillier she felt. She was probably making a big deal out of nothing.

Newt didn't seem to agree. His brows flew up. "So he knew it was you in the shower? Come with me, we're talking to Alby about this."

Ignoring her protests—she really, really didn't want to make a big deal out of this—Newt grabbed her hand (the uninjured one, thank goodness), and refused to let it go until they were standing right in front of Alby's table in front of the Homestead.

Alby looked up, confusion written on his face. Newt wasted no time. Keeping his eyes locked on Alby, Newt nodded in her direction. "Tell him what you told me, Frankie."

Frankie shifted her feet, trying unsuccessfully to pull her hand from Newt's gentle but firm grasp. Her face burned as she peeked around at the Gladers nearby, who were watching with curiosity. They were drawing attention and she was regretting saying anything. It felt like she was a little kid tattling on their sibling for something dumb, and everyone was around to watch her do it.

"Look, I was probably overreacting. Can we just forget it?"

Newt cut her a look that brooked no further argument, and Frankie sighed heavily. There was no getting out of this conversation.

Her skin prickling, Frankie took a seat opposite Alby, and although the details of everything were getting fuzzy the longer Newt kept staring at her with that persistent intensity, she tried to relay exactly the same information she had already told Newt just minutes ago. This time she made sure to sound more certain of herself when she spoke in Joe's defense.

Alby's expression remained unreadable throughout the whole retelling; the only clue as to his thoughts on the matter was the slight pursing of his lips that got tighter as she spoke. When Frankie was done speaking, Alby took in a lung full of air, flattened his palms against the table, and let out his breath. He exchanged a meaningful look with Newt, and then turned his attention back to her.

"We'll be having a gathering when the runners get back. You'll be attending." With that, Alby pushed himself to a stand and gathered his dishes. When Frankie opened her mouth to argue, Alby held up a hand. "That wasn't a request."

She watched Alby's retreating form for a moment before turning her frown on Newt, still standing beside her. He gave her a rueful smile and backed away with his hands up.

"Better get in line, love. From what I hear, you've gotta get over to Clint's soon, and breakfast's almost over."

Sighing, Frankie nodded, got up, and trudged to stand in line behind Newt. Frowning, Frankie collected her breakfast from Frypan. The Cook smiling wide and crying out Frankie's name in an cheerful greeting. It was sweet and friendy but too loud. Frankie felt like everyone was looking at her, even as she glanced around and saw that mostly they weren't. Frypan tried to catch her eye but she avoided his, muttering a rushed, but hopefully polite, "Morning Fry" and hurriedly walking to an empty table.

This was going to be a long day.

Gally saw Frankie in line at breakfast. He still felt a bit awkward; the events of the day before still fresh in his mind. The way he'd yelled at her. The way she'd held onto him as she cried. Because he'd made her cry. Gally felt discomfort twisting in his gut at the memory. He could be a real slinthead sometimes. He'd try to work on that.

In the meantime, he was going to make sure she was really okay. He was new to this girl stuff. Sure, they had apologized and all that the night before, but it seemed like girls were pretty intense with the emotions, if all that crying was anything to go by. Gally wasn't sure how long they held onto stuff like that. And she did look like she was frowning. Better safe than sorry, he figured. He'd be extra nice to her today.

While going to sit with her, he noticed Joe and Peter whispering to eachother and peeking glances over at the greenie. Peter caught Gally's eye, smirked, and nodded over to Frankie. He turned his smirk back to Gally like they'd just had some mutual understanding of something.

Gally furrowed his brows and shook his head at the other Builder, as if he didn't know what he was getting at. Peter's smirk faltered as he tried awkwardly to play it off. He started batting at an imaginary fly, before turning back to Joe.

Dumb shank.

Truthfully, Gally had an idea what Peter was smirking about. Maybe not the exact thought, but he could guess. Gally scowled and looked back at Frankie. He knew this would be a problem.

Gally forced the scowl from his face—it wasn't aimed at Frankie anyway—and went to sit down beside her, conveniently taking the seat that blocked her from view of those two shanks.

When Gally sat, Frankie looked from up from the potatoes she had been picking at. Her frowning face brightened immediately upon seeing it was him. Gally ignored the little thrill he felt at that fact. Looked like it wasn't him that was upsetting her.

Gally flicked a glace back at the two slintheads behind him. Just as he thought, they were staring. Gally raised an eyebrow and Peter quickly went back to his breakfast. Joe, however, stared right back at Gally, almost challenging.

Joe, then. It was Joe he had to worry about.

Gally turned his attention back to the girl in front of him when she greeted him.

"Morning, Gally." Frankie smiled at him, but it was a little strained.

"Are they bothering you?" He blurted. No easing into that one, eh, Gally? Real smooth.

Her strained smile dropped completely; a troubled expression taking its place. "What? Did Newt–?" She shook her head. "I mean, no, I'm fine. I'm good." She started picking at her potatoes again, not even eating them.

"Uh huh." Gally watched as her frown from earlier returned. "So no one's bothering you."

She didn't look up from dissecting her food. "Exactly."

Gally took a long breath in through his nose. Newt apparently knew something about this. He'd ask the other boy later.

"Okay" Gally said. "How's your morning been?"

Frankie finally looked at him again. She smiled a little, in obvious relief at the subject change. "It was good. I took a shower and washed my hair. Alby gave me some clothes to wear until I wash the ones I was wearing."

She was wearing a random mismatch of different Gladers' spare clothes. From what Gally could tell, she had on a brown pair of Alec's pants, and an old gray t-shirt of Henry's, both ratty and ill-fitting. Gally would say she looked like she'd gotten dressed in the dark, but to be fair, they all sort of did. He certainly couldn't be throwing any stones when his clothes were two to three sizes too small for him. Still, they were backwards and inside out, like she'd suddenly forgotten how clothes worked. He was getting a bad feeling.

"Ah" Gally nodded. "So that's why your hair looks like a wet bird's nest. It all makes sense now."

Gally dodged her half-hearted smack to the arm, laughing.

"Hey, you try to comb your hair out using only your fingers when you can't even use all of them; see how nice your hair looks." Frankie stuck her tongue out at him, but she was smiling despite it.

Gally smiled too. Her frown was gone. Now to keep it that way.

"So what are you gonna do about" Gally gestured vaguely to the tangled mess on her head. "that, exactly?"

Frankie warded off his attempts to steal her food as she replied. "Well, normally I'd use a brush or a comb, but I asked, and Alby said you guys didn't have any here. So finger-combing will have to do. But it's gonna take a long time, with this." She held her wrapped up finger to show him. Frankie shrugged. "So, bird's nest it is."

"Do you want me to do it?" Gally finally snagged a non-decimated potato bit of her plate and popped it in his mouth triumphantly.

Frankie's eyebrows raised. "Do what?"

"Your hair."

Frankie smiled, though she still looked confused. "Seriously? You'd do that?"

Was this a big deal? Why was she acting like this was a big deal?

"Well, yeah. I mean, you can't go around like that all day. No one who sees you will get any work done because they'll be too busy laughing at you. As a Keeper, I've gotta look out for the harmony and efficiency of the Glade. It'd be irresponsible of me to let you walk around like that."

Her face looked like it was warring between gratitude and offense. Gally had to fight down a laugh.

"Alright. Thank you." She said, but she was glaring at him playfully. Frankie turned her back to him.

Gally lifted his hands to her hair, trying to figure out where to start. He'd just grabbed some hair from the top of her head when she spoke up, startling him, although her voice was soft.

"Would you mind starting at the bottom? If you start at the top, the tangles get worse." Oh.

Gally moved his hands to the bottom of her hair and started working through the little knots there. His fingers combed through her hair, working his way up.

At one point, he heard her hiss quietly under her breath, and his hands stilled. "You good?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You just tugged a little, but it's okay." She replied, just as quiet.

Gally hummed in acknowledgement and resumed working through the knots, making sure to be gentle. He didn't hear any more hisses so he figured he must've succeeded.

Finally, all the tangles looked to have been worked out. Gally ran his fingers through the length of her hair a few times just to make sure. Her hair was sort of soft. Were all girls' hair soft? Or was it just because her hair was still wet?

"Gally?" Frankie asked, startling him.

Gally dropped her hair and raised his hands in the air like he'd been caught doing something wrong. Which he hadn't. She couldn't even see him, anyway, so why were his hands up? Gally lowered his arms and cleared his throat. "Yeah?"

"Is my hair done?" Frankie craned her neck back to look at him.

"Uh, yeah. Just finished." Gally scooted back a little on the bench.

She turned around and smiled at him. "Thank you. Seriously."

"Do you, uh, do you have something to tie it back?"

Frankie shook her head with a frown tugging her lips down a bit.

"Yeah. Figured not." Gally sighed and thought a minute. Reaching down, he took the bottom hem of his t-shirt in his hands and —rrrip— made a strip.

He looked up and saw Frankie gaping at him. "Turn back around." Gally ordered, and she complied silently. Taking her hair in his hands again, Gally pulled his shirt strip around it and tied a shotty little knot, hopefully not getting any strands caught. He sat back and inpected his work with a frown. It wasn't ideal, but it'd work. Probably. "All done."

Frankie's hand came up and inspected his work. She had a look of wonder on her face disproportionate to the act of service done.

"Thank you Gally." Frankie said, the awe apparent in her voice as well.

Before Gally could tone down her admiration somehow, Newt appeared, collecting Frankie and escorting her to her job for the day. The glare the other boy sent Joe's way distracting Gally and souring his mood with the reminder. His resolve strengthened to get answers out of the second-in-command. Later.

First he had to inhale his breakfast as fast as humanly possible (he barely touched his food, talking to Frankie, and doing Frankie's hair. And eating her food. Okay, so he did eat a little.) and then get to work.

And when he got to work, he would be working Peter a little harder than usual.

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, please consider reblogging/commenting. also feel free to talk about the story with me in my ask box :)

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