#the only plushies he cares to keep are their old ones for sentimental value | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

unkindnessofone · 7 years ago

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Bunny Rabbit

Pure fluff. I want to write a story about an object or place or something with sentimental value to each character. This is the first one. Let me know what you think. It goes out to @themoonkilledmyride. I see you, girl! I appreciate you reading my stories.

The Hemmings house had rules when it came to significant others spending time in the bedrooms of their children.

1) It was not allowed if there was no parent home.

2)The door had to remain open.

3) It could only be while the sun was out.

4) No exceptions to any rules above.

While Penelope blatantly walked right through all the other fences her parents put up, she did obey the bedroom rules. It was only her friends that she up in her bedroom and, while Connor had always adored Penny with pink cartoon bubble hearts in his eyes, he was respectful and was never doing much besides sitting on her floor talking or singing while she sat against the closet door and listened. Miles and March on the other hand had both broken each rule at least once.

Michael and Grace Clifford had always been more laid back with their children. Emmeline proved so challenging to control and influence from the moment she came screaming into the world that they just tried their best to keep her alive. Iden was such an easy baby that they never felt the need to set up rules for him. Besides, Michael had already talked to Iden about sex at Grace’s request that he knew his kid was in the loop. He had seen a condom wrapper in his kitchen garbage under the sink only a few days after he moved into the condo. All Mike cared about was that his children were being safe and present when it came to their bodies. After all, they were not his bodies to control. He and Grace always agreed on that. If their kids wanted piercings, tattoos, twelve different colours in their hair, or to keep multiple partners – they would not object as long as Emmeline and Iden were old enough and of sound minds.

So Iden didn’t think twice about shutting his bedroom door behind him when Mariona came over around seven in the evening after her shift at her parent’s gallery ended. His dad was out with friends, but had left the freezer stocked with frozen pizza for when Iden found himself hungry that Friday. On the floor, he took his time going through Mariona’s first binder of photos she had taken since school started. They had begun to seriously plan their first show, deciding it would be easier and feel better to do it together with her photographs and his sketches. On his bed, Iden had left a small stack of his books for her to look at as well as a few loose leaf pictures sandwiched in between. She had initially sat on top of his perfectly made bed with her legs folded open like a lily pad, but Mariona’s attention soon went everywhere else in his immaculately kept bedroom. Iden designated time to keep his world clean. He found it much easier to battle his depression when his world was organized. If he had a serene place to unwind, he could generally avoid slipping into a dark loop.

“We need someone who isn’t biased to help.” From the floor, his eyes focused on studying her pictures, Iden mentioned with his hand resting under his chin and partially covering his mouth. He looked for the different things Mariona talked about, but he wasn’t a photographer. He didn’t have the critical eye that she had. Iden just knew if he liked a photo or not. “I like all your stuff.” They were still only a two months into officially dating. He still thought everything she did was wonderful solely because she did it.

“Some of those pictures are awful. You can’t like them all.” Standing up and lifting herself slightly on her tip toes, Mariona told him while reaching for a picture on the shelf above his bed. It was of him and his grandparents on his Dad’s side, the only two he knew, when he was about eight. He was in his soccer uniform and showing off his recently lost tooth right in the front. It was an embarrassing photo, he assumed, but Iden didn’t worry about what people thought of him anymore. He was trying to take a page out of his sister’s book and Emmeline Clifford couldn’t care what anyone thought of her. As long as they were thinking of her, she was pleased. “I won’t be offended. You can be honest. I’m going to be honest with you.” She explained, putting the picture back somewhat where she left it.

Iden knew she would be truthful no matter what her opinion was. It was one of his favorite things about Mariona. He never had to do any guess work with her. He always knew what she was thinking.

“Okay, well I really like this one.” He constantly went back to the photo of the crammed bus shack just a block South of her family’s gallery. She used the technique of motion blur that she loved so much with a lot of her street photography. This particular picture made the overcrowded bus shack and all it’s waiting passengers inside the focus, the street around it just a mess of grey shades. Iden couldn’t look at it without wondering what different people were feeling, what kind of days they had just had, where they were going, what and who they were going to. He reached forward from the binder in front of him, adjusting his posture for a second, to peel off a bright neon green sticky note from it’s pad and mark the picture. He glanced up at his girlfriend, her hair natural and sitting up top of her head somewhat centered. She looked comfortable in her navy and red checkered pants with their wide legs and a very cozy white sweater hiding her inside. He smiled as she kept snooping around his room, moving to his book case and observing the eclectic mix of Star Wars memorabilia, soccer trophies, and pill bottles.

Iden’s eyes narrowed in on the pills. She grazed her finger over his multi-purpose vitamins, but didn’t seem to pay them any steady attention. She breezed right on by his anti depressants. Iden didn’t feel any shame that he took medication to help stabilize his mood. He knew more people who took pills than those who didn’t, but he still hadn’t quite made peace with himself when it came to his suicide attempt just over a year before. He didn’t know how to talk to himself about it so he figured he wasn’t ready to share that with Mariona either. He knew she wouldn’t be judgemental, but he didn’t want her to be discouraged to stay with him by his baggage. He didn’t want her to think that she needed to be his nurse. He didn’t want to slip again so he made honest attempts to stay in the moment. He took every day minute by minute in order to ward off any oncoming demons. “Are you going to help?” Chuckling, Iden asked once he had pressed the sticky note to the picture. He turned the page to give another photo his attention, but he sat up straighter and stretched out his legs right beside her binder, watching as she took an interest in the stuffed animal on top of the book case. The cocoa and cream colored bunny rabbit was in reasonably good shape considering it had been deeply loved from the time Iden was three to about six. It was the one plushie that he was allowed to bring on tour and Iden showed the rabbit the entire world.

“Is this why you didn’t want me to stay over two Fridays ago?” He had yet to bring her over to his mom’s place. “You weren’t ready to share your bed with a different girl.” Mariona spun around, hugging the rabbit to the side of her face and teasing. It was nearly as soft as it had been when it first became Iden’s.

“Kylo is not a lady bunny.” Dry as yesterday’s toast left on the counter, Iden responded, staring up at her as if they were talking about their views on war and mortality.

“You named him Kylo? As in the Star Wars character?” Her parents were nerds, granted Lord of the Rings nerds and not the Star Wars kind, but Mariona was still familiar with the most famous space opera of all the time.

“I was, like, four maybe.” He had actually been three. “I didn’t choose him, I made him.” Iden pointed from the ground at the fluffy, but somewhat limp rabbit’s right foot where his logo was still sewn on loosely. “He’s a Build-a-Bear.” Kylo was sentimental to Iden. He hadn’t cuddled with it or anything in a long time, but he couldn’t bring himself to part with it. When his Dad told him to bring some stuff over that would make his bedroom at his place feel more like his own, Kylo Ren-Clifford was one of the first things to be thrown in the cardboard box. This was really where he belonged.

Certain tasks didn’t feel right being delegated to an assistant or crew member. There were things that as a parent Michael felt a responsibility to do himself. He also knew it meant a lot more to Grace if he went to the store himself and picked up children’s cough syrup for Emmeline instead of just making the medicine magically appear in their hotel room in Ohio. Since Grace was occupied lying in a hotel bed with their Princess of Hacking, rubbing her back and kissing her pink as grenadine cheeks, Michael took Iden to the store with him.

It had been a particularly boring day for the toddler. With his Dad doing a hospital visit, radio interview, cable show interview, and special acoustic performance for twenty lucky winners, Iden Clifford was stuck at the hotel with his Mom and very sick sister. Since Emmeline required all the attention, Iden was left mostly to his own devices. He scribbled with crayons on hotel paper, he ate lunch in front of a television show about rainbow porcupines that fixed townspeople’s problems, he had a good one hour nap. Iden had wanted to race up and down the hallway with his little legs and on large yoga balls with his Dad, his dad’s tour managers, Connor, Penelope, Uncle Luke, and a few crew members that he had known forever like they had at the last hotel, but there was no such luck. The whole day had been as low key as possible which was why Michael felt like going to a drugstore would be downright exciting for the small boy.

Underneath his kids Gap baseball hat, Iden took in the busy mall that his Dad took him into, reaching up to hold Michael’s bigger hand that could engulf Iden’s little fingers if he wanted to. He led him into the CVS without looking directly at anyone around them. Michael didn’t want to engage. He didn’t want to acknowledge the two phone cameras he saw directed at him and Iden. They were on a mission and Michael found it was best to keep to himself when he had a simple task to do. Besides, he knew Grace didn’t like when he talked to fans with the kids with him. She thought it was inappropriate.

While Michael stood in front of the different boxes of shelved medication, a children’s syrup box in hand with tiny printing for him to struggle and squint at, Iden crouched down and poked at the different allergy boxes, knocking some down as he whispered to himself the different colors he saw on the packaging. Red, white, blue, blue, red, green.

“We got it.” Michael informed his son who wasn’t paying attention, shaking the box in his hand and letting the bottle inside shuffle like a maraca that no one would buy. “Let’s go.”

In response, Iden lifted up his arm to his Dad and offered a box of Clariton that he had picked out for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

“For me?” He suggested more than asking. Iden even took the box back and pushed it into his chest. It wasn’t always the case, but generally if and when Emmeline was gifted with something, so was he. If she was having a bath, he was right in there with her. If Mom gave her slices of cheese or a pudding cup for a bed time snack, he had one too. Iden couldn’t understand this being any different. It had been explained to him on the car ride over that they were picking up medicine for his sister, so he just assumed he would get to pick one out for himself as well.

Sounding like a dramatic inhale, Michael huffed out humoured before shaking his head ‘no’ at Iden. Iden glanced down at the box that he was poking his stomach with and just stared at it. He was being told ‘no’ and now he just wasn’t sure what to do.

“You got to put that back, bud.” Michael was trying to stop doing things for his kids. He could have just reached down, snatched the allergy medicine, and put it back on the shelf, but that kind of behavior was why Emmeline threw a temper tantrum about putting her toys away or why she just anticipated everyone doing everything for her. Iden was still young enough that Mike felt he could teach him to finish his own tasks. “You don’t have allergies.” It was possible that they would find out one day that he did. Hell, the kid was pale enough from Michael’s genes that he could very well need SPF 2000, but for now, Iden didn’t have any seasonal problems that they were aware of.

Slowly, Iden bent down on his knees, butt out, and reached to put the box back even though he had squished it’s side slightly without meaning to. He had just been clutching it so tightly to his chest. Both his hands uncurled and reached for a different box, the Reactine one right beside it, but Michael shook his head as soon as his son checked with his head raised to his Dad.

“I don’t know.” Iden stood up straight and explained, dropping his open palms to his side. “Why not?” His sentence was chopped up, but Michael caught the jist of it. He started to walk by Iden, just a half step, and watched as he followed him to the self-check out. Iden was good at continuing on even if he didn’t understand something or was upset. He never freaked out when it was time to leave the park. He could be disappointed and still carry on. It was a trait that Michael didn’t find in many adults, but was pleased to see Iden had picked it up somewhere.

“You’re not sick, bud.” Michael explained after scanning the box and putting it in a paper bag next to the check out. He hoped that Iden wouldn’t catch what his sister was fighting. As soon as Emmeline woke up with her cough mimicking the sound of a 90 year old miner and her eyes like red cotton puffs, Grace moved Iden out of the bedroom and into the king sized bed she and Michael were occupying while they were in town for another day. The two could still find privacy in the living area on the couch, in a small closet, or in the jacuzzi tub. She and Michael were trying to make more time for one another this tour since they were finally finding their own balance again after becoming parents for a second time around. Luckily, for both of them, Iden was a terrific sleeper.

“Molly is sick.” Iden repeated what he had heard a few times in different voices above his head that afternoon.

“I know. That’s who your sister caught it from.” Or so Michael assumed. He had heard from Ashton as soon as he saw him that morning with purple rings around his eyes and a Venti dark roast from the lobby Starbucks that Molly was three days in and still coughing up mucus and crying of a burning throat. Since Simone was travelling with Connor for work, opening her first counter in Toronto, Skye was stuck babysitting Molly for the day while also trying to shield baby Daphne from all the new germs.

Once Michael had paid, he took the bag in one hand and gripped Iden’s with his other. He walked them the same way out as they had come in from the particularly windy evening. Michael was turning them right where he remembered to, just at the Swarvoski store, when he saw an illuminated bright blue and yellow sign. He remembered when Grace was pregnant with Emmeline, just a few months, he thought to himself that he would take his kid to the Build-a-Bear shop one day. It was just a fluffy idea that had come into his mind when he was feeling particularly euphoric about the whole situation. He had only just heard Emme’s heartbeat for the first time a day before and now everything seemed like a possibility. He remembered saying he would take his kid to the Spam Museum, the Hershey’s factory, and to every family movie that came out. Of course, none of those things had happened yet, but there was some mumbling between him and Calum that they could find time to go to the Hershey’s factory soon. It sort of coincided with Daphne’s birthday in October. Michael stopped them walking for a second, Iden’s attention on his own reflection in the Swarvoski store window. He just stared into the jewels and found himself staring back at him in a translucent manner. Michael managed to check his phone out of his over-sized jean jacket, his paper bag still in hand, and debated with himself if they had time. Yes, Emmeline was sick. However, Grace was trying to get her down for a few hours of sleep. They both knew that tonight would be a night with Emmeline waking up a few times due to the ferociousness of her cough, but Iden’s day had been completely scheduled around his big sister being sick. Mike decided that Grace had things handled back at the hotel for now. How long could building a bear possibly take anyway?

“Hey bud?” Michael wiggled Iden’s arm around, shaking their clutched hands, until Iden looked up at his Dad, his head all the way back on his little neck. “Want to build a bear?” It was a question that Iden had never had posed to him before, so he blinked twice at his Dad while trying to sort out an answer and then nodded enthusiastically and shouted ‘yes’! “Alright.” Michael started leading Iden in and the closer they came to the pop music playing and the wall of stuffed animals to pick from, the more excited Iden’s body became. His smile was at full beam when they entered the store, Michael walking them up to the plush toys they could pick from. Iden’s hand, out of joy, was squeezing tightly around his dad’s fingers. He didn’t loosen up or run away, he had to hold himself in place. He didn’t know how else to not flip out.

Completely amused as well as looking forward to crossing something off his parent dream list, Michael crouched down to be closer to Iden’s height and watched as his kid just stared at all the toys with intense anticipation glowing from his brown eyes.

“So you have to pick one and then someone in here will help us fill it up.” Michael knew there were more steps than that, but he wasn’t about to overwhelm his son more than he already was. Plus, Michael didn’t know the other steps. He had never built a bear before so to speak. “Which one do you like? There’s some Pokemon ones.” He pointed over toward one end of the wall, Iden following his dad’s hand for a second and then looking elsewhere on the shelf before them. “Or the karate bear is pretty cool.” Michael figured that would be the one he would pick, a fluffy basic brown bear in karategi with a green belt wrapped around it’s center. “Which one do you like?” Michael stood up again and walked them closer, encouraging Iden to start them out on their Build-a-Bear adventure. The kid was so used to following after his larger than life sister and playing happily in all her activities that he hadn’t had to make many decisions on his own. When Michael loosened his hand from Iden’s that was when the three year old walked over to the window, finding a brown and white bunny with very floppy ears. He pointed at it with his finger patting at the fluff that he thought was fur on it’s ear and waited for his Dad to join him.

It made sense since Easter was the next holiday coming up, but they didn’t celebrate it much beyond hiding eggs around backstage dressing rooms, tour buses, and hotel rooms. Michael didn’t think much about it and just looked around until he found an employee to come help them. The young girl with a name tag that read 'Kate’ greeted them as if they were more special than anyone else that had come in and Michael appreciated it. She spoke almost directly to Iden and found the Easter inspired rabbit for him before taking him over to the stuffing station where she helped Iden to sit down with her so they could fill up his friend. Michael took a second to ask the kid behind the counter if he could leave his drug store purchase behind the till. He wanted both hands to properly take photos or a video on his camera. He knew it was hard for his parents to be away from their two and only grandchildren, so he wanted to give his Mum and Dad proof that the kids weren’t borrowed following their dad around on tour. They were still having fun. Well, Iden was at the moment. The little boy was gently stepping on a black pedal while Kate tended to stuffing the rabbit. It had to have been about the thirtieth stuffed animal she done this to all month. It was wasy for her to ask Iden questions while still doing her job, inquiring if he was excited for Easter and liked chocolate. It wasn’t until the rabbit was fully stuffed that Iden had warmed up to the salesgirl. He was naturally more shy than his sister was. While he wasn’t nearly as quiet as his friend Daphne, he did fair more to her than other kids.

“You can pick out a sound for your friend if you want.” She explained. “Or a scent.” Her manager liked to encourage both, but enough parents had looked at her with death stares for her to feel uncomfortable doing so. Iden checked with Michael who had his phone out. Michael was feeling too happy to damper the mood with any 'no’s’. He liked that he could give his children whatever they wanted and Iden was a pretty good kid. Michael had to exercise discipline twice as much with Emmeline than he ever did with his son.

“You can pick one.” He told his boy, knowing that was what Grace would do, and then watched as Iden went over to the area that Kate pointed out for him. Michael followed closely behind, watching as Iden pulled on sound strings and moved on to the next. He liked the cotton candy scent, but he couldn’t stop himself from pulling on the string that played out the Imperial March from Star Wars two more times. Michael helped Iden to make the decision that he should go with the song he liked as the heartbeat for his rabbit. Once his Dad handed him the right heart, Iden carefully sandwiched between his small hands and ran it over to Kate.

“I want this one for Kylo’s heart.” He annouced right in front of her before lifting up his top hand and revealing the red circle for her to use.

“Good choice.” She nodded and took it from him with the same amount of concern she knew he wanted her to use. “Kylo, huh? Kylo Rabbit?” She checked while stitching up the stuffed animal’s back.

“Yes.” Iden agreed. “He’s my favourite in the movie.” With Emmeline, Michael showed her all kinds of anime as a kid. She was always partial to Sailor Moon and Kiki’s Delivery Service, but Iden had taken to the Star Wars movies. Grace thought he was too young, but Michael had never mentioned to her that he used to stay up on the tour bus with Iden when he was a baby, giving him his bottle, and going through The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. He couldn’t start telling Iden now that they couldn’t watch them. They were a part of his soul.

“He’s the bad guy.” The girl engaged as she finished with the bunny and handed him to Iden.

“He’s the cool guy.” Iden explained as if his fact was the more important of the two. Besides, his Dad always told him that nobody was all good and nobody was all bad. His mom felt differently, but he didn’t know that yet. Iden hugged Kylo to his stomach, both arms wrapped around him. He kissed each of his ears and listened happily as he set off the song that they had put inside of the stuffed animal.

“So, you need to go blow dry him and comb him since he’s just been through a stuffing and then we can pick out clothes or other things for him.” She stood up and explained, leading Iden over to the next station where he dutifully took care of his new friend, Kylo.

Anything a stuffed toy could possibly desire was hanging on the wall before the check-out. There was helmets for bears, jet packs, wigs, cell phones, hates, flowers, power blasters, purses, bandanas, and even stuffed animals for the stuffed animal. For a moment, Iden looked over a pair of sunglasses for his rabbit. He hugged it again and the Imperial March sound distracted him.

“Do you want any of this for Kylo?” Mike tried to keep them focused. He was enjoying himself, but he knew that they were expected back by now.

“No.” Iden shook his head, surprising his Dad.

“Are you sure?” Michael thought that if he was a kid and he was given permission that he would get his stuffed animal one of everything. Well, maybe not the satin flowers and plush cell phone, but bejeweled bucket hat, but everything else.

“He’s happy.” Iden shrugged content. To Iden, that was what he figured Kylo’s heartbeat was telling him. He was perfectly fine as is. Besides, bunnies didn’t wear clothes or have cell phones. Iden didn’t know too much for certain, but he did know that as well as he knew that his Dad was the fastest tickle monster and his Mom gave the world’s best goodnight squeezes.

Michael chose not to argue with Iden. They went to the desk where Emmeline’s medicine waited for them and filled out Kylo Rabbit’s information, using Skye’s work phone number instead of their own as everybody did and John Feldman’s office address as Kylo’s home address. Michael liked the idea of John constantly being sent Build a Bear catalogues and he didn’t like giving out his personal information. As Michael paid, Iden waited with the sales girl for Kylo Rabbit’s birth certificate. He was pleased to see that they were both born in Sydney, Australia even though Kylo Ren-Cifford had only just been born now in Cleveland.

“Thank you, Daddy.” Iden almost shouted as he bounced out of the store, finally finished waving goodbye to the employee that helped them. Iden was in charge of holding his sister’s medicine now since the Build-a-Bear box that housed Kylo was nearly his size and he couldn’t carry it. He watched it move back and forth against his dad’s leg as they walked out of the mall, making a beeline for their rental car. Michael held his kid’s hand in the parking lot, telling him twice to not drop the paper bag. It wouldn’t be very good if they arrived home with a brand new bunny rabbit doll and not what they initially went out for in the first place.

Mike tossed the rabbit in it’s box into the backseat first and then buckled Iden up into his car seat. He couldn’t peel his son’s attention away from the box if it had been his job. Michael hadn’t even started the car and Iden had managed to reach over, pull apart the cardboard tabs and rescue Kylo-Ren Clifford. Before fully emerging from the parkade and into the city that he would have been lost in without the help of his loud GPS, Michael checked in the mirror and watched Iden pull faces at the bunny. It made him feel like the best Dad in the world for one second which meant a lot considering he always felt guilty for having a career that demanded him to be physically and often mentally away from his children. Everyone sacrificed their time for the band and Michael didn’t ever gloss over that fact. It had only been a half an hour of one on one time with Iden, but Michael felt like today he had been able to do it all. He fulfilled his career responsibilities, helped Luke out with a personal complaint, sent pictures of his kids to his parents, bought Emmeline her medicine, made Iden’s day, and if the night went as planned, he was going to make his wife cum twice back to back. Today, Michael managed to do everything.

She couldn’t resist. Mariona had one leg hanging off her boyfriend’s bed with the rabbit in the small nook her folded leg on the bed made. While Iden explained Kylo to his her, she had moved his drawings to the floor. She pushed her two thumbs into it’s stomach, but nothing happened. She looked behind her at Iden, lying with his hands behind in his head and his knee against her hip. He was watching amused as she tried to make his rabbit play the Star Wars song. Mariona tried again before leaning back and resting her head against Iden’s firm chest.

“I’m afraid your bunny doesn’t work anymore. Time for another trip to Build-a-Bear with your Dad.”

Iden just smiled slightly to himself and reached down to pick it up from her waist where it had flopped over. He held it above his face with squinted eyes, somehow silently communicating into the black beads it wore in it’s face, and then he brought it down and hugged it to his body, right beside Mariona’s head, and let the song play proudly.

“You’re not his best friend.” Joking, Iden deadpanned and shrugged. He let out a laugh as Mariona rolled her eyes at him. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before putting Kylo down. As much as the rabbit meant to him, it also reminded him of a rare time in his life where he had his Dad’s complete attention all to himself. Even though Iden went back and forth between his parent’s respective places at the moment, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t sharing his Dad with the world anymore. He still did have his Dad’s crazy schedule to fit into as well as trying to tip toe in between Emmeline’s over the phone freak outs. Iden wasn’t a little kid anymore. His dad wasn’t his idol any longer, but he was trying to figure out where they fit in one anothers lives. Right now, though, he just wanted to make out with his girlfriend. His hands slid smoothly down Mariona’s side as she adjusted herself to be lying on her stomach, crawling up his chest until she was sitting over his hips and kissing him back. She always thought she was okay at kissing, but Iden’s topsy turvy tongue had taught her tricks that she thought were made up by screenwriters. He knew how to illicit goosebumps all over her body. She had never found herself feeling as feverish as she did when Iden was kissing her, hands sliding underneath the back of her top. As the two of them fumbled on top of his bed, Iden kicked one leg off the mattress, making room for Mariona to press her hips into his. He just about had her big sweater over head when his foot found Kylo-Ren Clifford’s stomach, sending the Imperial March through his room. Both teenagers parted their mouths, exchanging confused expressions for a second, and then broke out laughing.

#iden clifford #5sos imagine #5sos au #michael clifford imagine

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killtcmcrrcw-a-blog · 8 years ago

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MIKE HEADCANON ➡ THE BOTTOM DRAWER.

i’ve been thinking a lot about the contents of mike’s brain recently, and it occurred to me that i’ve put less down about the more physical aspects of him. for that reason, i find it suitable to discuss what it is mike keeps in his bottom drawer, and why he is so defensive about it.

to begin, the ‘bottom drawer’ in question is not a vague statement of any kind. when we discuss ‘the bottom drawer’ we’re quite literally discussing the bottom drawer in the chest of them in his bedroom. so what’s in it? personal shit.

OLD TOYS.

believe it or not, mike does have a sentimental side. it’s just very... hidden, and it doesn’t help that he clamps down on it every single time somebody tries to worm their way in. few have seen it, this side of him, and even fewer ever will. anyways, mike keeps old toys in his drawer. this is important because, as a child, he didn’t get them. his mother never bought him them, and any attempts made by his father to spoil his child always resulted in the woman throwing a violent fit and trashing everything/binning it immediately. as such, he only has a couple of things; a few old pikachu toys - a bouncy-ball with him in, as well as a small plushie, and some cards - and a couple of trains. we’re talking very old, wooden trains, like those a very young child would have. those with the magnets on the tails of them so that others in a youngster’s collection could be dragged along with it. of course, he doesn’t play with them any more, but to him they are fractions of the childhood he should’ve had. he never got to be young, not really, and him keeping some of these objects helps him understand that, even though he never felt it, he was actually a child at one point.

OLD MUSIC.

simply put, when he picked up music in his youth - from the age of ten due to school and then he practically blackmailed his father into getting him his own piano upon returning from the facility, saying that if he ‘ wanted him to be his son again, then he would ‘ - he wrote some wonderful things. granted, most salvaged pieces are from his late teens, with lyrics filled with anger, regret, sorrow and the ramifications of abuse, as well as hatred towards his mother, his father, doctors and, a little later, the terrible illness that overtook his dear friend. one piece he keeps was actually a song he wrote for anna’s funeral, which he played at the service before leaving.

ANNA.

no, he doesn’t keep anna herself in his draw, lmao. however, he does keep enough of her to make him feel less alone. the main reason he is so defensive of that drawer is because of the possessions he has on behalf of his dead friend.

DRESS: in there is her second favourite dress ( she asked to be buried in her favourite; a blue piece that she described as ‘ the sky ‘. this may be familiar as mike has a blanket that he calls ‘ the sky ‘ too - it helps him feel close to her when things are bad, and it’s another reason why the sky-sea dream is so vivid to him ). upon telling him that she would not be returning from surgery - to which mike argued vehemently against - she asked him to take care of whichever one he wanted on her behalf. he chose one of her newest ones, a simple light pink one that stopped just above her knees and was covered in soft floral patterns, and he has had it ever since. every now and then, he has to wash it to keep age from spoiling it, and it always breaks him because he feels he loses a little more of her every time he does it. when in the process, he will sit by the washer, and then the tumble dryer, for as long as it takes, eyes fixed on it, unwavering.

RECORDER: upon getting out of the facility, mike began to have some very violent night terrors on account of things that had happened to him. due to the pair being next to inseparable upon release, it meant that anna was around for a lot of his sweat-soaked, half-screamed awakenings, and would often be there to soothe him. when in the process of calming him down, she would rest his head in her lap, stroke gently through damp hair and sing very softly to him. one time, mike asked her to record it, so that if there was ever a night that they were apart - as in, he slept at his own house or she was unable to come over - then he would be able to listen to it and fall asleep. she agreed somewhat reluctantly, feeling odd to have her voice recorded, but she would’ve done anything for the boy. to this day, he still has the recorder, and in very solitary moments he will pull it out to listen. he has since had the song transferred to his phone too.

PHOTOGRAPHS: not surprisingly, mike doesn’t like photographs-- or being in them, more specifically. however, the few he has of anna are kept in a plastic wallet to prevent dust and age from ruining them, and he always handles them with gloves oddly similar to the ones she would wear during veterinary practices ( practices for she was a student and dropped out due to illness before she could pursue her career ). his favourite is one of her in the field they would often walk through, holding a ‘bouquet’ of sunflowers in front of her face, and through the stems is her wide smile visible. he can’t look at this for too long however, for it was taken on the same day that she first collapsed.

LETTERS: after her passing, mike had two cats - jackson and jaspar -without an owner. knowing he couldn’t take care of them himself, he placed them up for adoption-- an offer that dictated they were bought together or not at all. eventually, a couple looking for young cats bought the pair of them, and mike was free of the last living pieces of her. he asked them a small favour: to just write to him now and again to tell him how they were doing. he honestly didn’t expect a lot, but the couple actually did keep in contact with him throughout the years, sending him a letter every eight or so months ( as well as holidays, where they would attach festive polaroids of them all together with a letter wishing him well, which he still has too ). the last letter he has is about them sorrowfully discussing the passing of both, though thanking him for the years of happiness that they had due to buying and living life with them.

CONCLUSION.

note that these are just some of the more prominent items in the drawer. there are a lot of things in there, most holding some sentimental value despite the man seemingly ‘not possessing’ those kinds of feelings, and is probably subject to be added to. at the end of the day, whether entangled in bitterness or blinded by rage, mike harmon is just a man. he is a man with feelings, and thoughts, and autonomous desires and ideas. it should be no surprise that, somewhere in the wreckage of his broken life, a fragment of him became so emotional that it refused to let go. i think people forget the fact that, though he is psychotic and dangerous to be around as he can manipulative, unemotional and odd, mike harmon is still irrevocably human.

#﹔ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵘᶰ ʰᵃˢ ᵇᵒʳᶰ ᵃ ᵇʳᵃᶰᵈ ᶰᵉʷ ᵈᵃʸ⋅ ( HEADCANON. )#﹔ ᵇᶫᵒᵒᵈʸ ᶰᵃᶦᶫˢ ᵃᶰᵈ ᵇʳᵒᵏᵉᶰ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗˢ⋅ ( MIKE. )#( MH. )

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tigren · 8 years ago

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im going to do the 30 day neopet challenge but im going to do it in one post under a readmore bc i will almost certainly forget it within the first week if i do it the proper way, i don’t think anyone is going to care about my responses in particular and i don’t want to spam people daily, and most importantly: im super bored right now

Day 01: When did you start playing Neopets and how old is your current account?

my first account got purged but i saved the date that i created it. i had my 14 year neopets anniversary last month WOW!!! my current account will turn 11 in may.

Day 02: How did you find out about Neopets?

i think my brother made a neopets account when he was like 10ish, he didn’t get super into it but my dad also made an account and got really involved with the site!! i was like 6 or 7 and i just really liked poogle solitaire (rip). i don’t think i actually knew how to play but it amused me and my dad let me continue playing because he got stuff for it. but eventually i guess he got sick of me being on my account and made one for me. my first username was bleubaby_72, which is named after a doll i had as a much younger child (Blue Baby, misspelled) and i don’t think the 72 means anything. my first pet was a yellow aisha whose name i don’t remember... my dream pet was a desert aisha (would still die for a UC desert aisha, i wouldn’t say theyre my fave but THE SENTIMENTAL VALUE.......)

Day 03: Favourite Neopets species?

i love boris! and yurbles recently shot up my list of fave pets, but i don’t like a lot of their colors. i generally prefer neopets that are mammalian (but not as a rule necessarily) and have features of real animals but can’t necessarily be pinpointed as a certain real species. like, aishas and wockies are cats, gelerts and lupes are dogs, grarrls are tyrannosaurus rex, elephantes are duh. and thats fine and good i still like a lot of those species! but yurbles for example have that hedgehog/bear thing going on but they also have their weird spiral ears and neck ruff. and thats my favorite thing.

i also really like unis because i’ve been a horse girl since childhood n never grew out of it, and they have great colors. and aishas were my first fave and will always be one of my favorites. so i can appreciate pets that can more easily be represented by 1 animal.

Day 04: How many pets do you own and which is your favourite?

ummmmmm 14 i think? there might be a few other pets rotting on sides that i kinda forgot about, i’m too lazy to check. Abbur is my favorite, he’s my pink bori baby boy and i just care about him with all my heart. i really like his customization and none of my pets have any real “stories” or anything but most of them have vague personalities and histories and his is more developed than any of my other pets. Alabryss is another fave, i’ve had him for FOREVER and he’s always been a uni but he’s gone thru a billion color changes. he’s royal now and will almost definitely be royal for the rest of his life. his name is a misspelling of the petpet Alabriss (i think i made him 1 day after they were released) which i didn’t totally do on purpose.. like obviously i got the name from the petpet but i didn’t realize until a while later that i had subconsciously used it. anyway i’m not complaining, i still love him and he has an alabriss petpet named yuni

Day 05: Favourite Paint Brush colour?

OHH HBOY that’s hard!!! off the top of my head w/o looking through colors or anything i like royal and desert bc they’re generally more Elaborate w/ the clothes options and stuff. but i also have a big appreciation for cheap colors like cloud and ghost.. they look good on almost every pet imo. i like starry a lot too, big obnoxious iconic neopets stars. i especially like when starry pets have orange accents.

Day 06: Favourite Labray only colour?

is robot labray only? robot is cool. i guess there’s the robot zapper thing from the dr sloth plot forever ago but does that count?? i think chocolate would be my next choice. i can’t even remember all the labray only colors

Day 07: Favourite Petpet species?

this is so hard!!! i’ve always loved petpets SOO much. i’ve recently started to have a big appreciation for the super like.. generic, classic petpets.. like the kinds youd find in the neopia central petpet shop. they have a certain charm to them and i love them. i’ve always liked crokabeks a lot, theyre sooooo square shaped!! square crows! gruslen & doglefox were my faves as a kid.

Day 08: Favourite Petpet colour?

birthday is rly cute

Day 09: Favourite Petpetpet species?

uhhhhh i don’t know all the petpetpets and never had THAT much of an interest in them. what’s the one that looks like a praying mantis??? i’ve always liked those

ok wait i just looked up a list and petpetpets can be p cute actually. i still like the praying mantis dude, moach, but i also love: cooty, fleaf, lightmite, and zytch. i don’t tend to like art of petpetpets in games and stuff but they’re cute in their regular images.. theyre so small......

Day 10: Favorite Neopian world?

UHHHHHHH since i was a kid i’ve always liked: faerieland, lost desert, and mystery island.

Day 11: Which team do you pick for the Altador Cup and why?

always darigan citadel. i don’t really know why i picked it my first year... i was never like an Edgy Goth Kid or anything. they got 2nd place the first year and i thought that was awesome, and i had also gotten involved with a really fun DC chat group so i joined them again the next year. then they won and that was awesome!! other people in the chat group started joining other teams and there was no reason it needed to be a DC only group (it was called the 30 trillionaires... our “goal” every year was to collectively make it to 30 trillion goals during the season. which is impossible but idk that was what made it kind of fun i guess.. it was just casual yooyuball grinding and chatting with friends lol) so i wasn’t “stuck” with the team but even after they stopped doing so well i stuck with them out of loyalty. i used to be SUPER into the altador cup but i lost touch w/ the chat group and never got into it again

Day 12: Favourite Avatar?

ANOTHER HARD QUESTION!! i’ve always LOVED the bon appetite kelp one.. which i still don’t have. generally i prefer the “older” style of avatars where they were simpler, mostly animated but in a simple way and a lot of the time w/ pixel art elements. i feel like a lot of newer avatars have a way heavier focus on animation, like theyre just lil gifs, they lost a lot of that simplicity. i also tend to be biased toward avatars that have odd shapes rather than just being squares. like gloomy and jazzmosis and taelia. even the circle ones that still have regular borders are pleasing to me

Day 13: Which chat boards do you usually chat in?

i don’t use the boards much... i lurk newbie chat a lot and sometimes try to get involved and talk w/ people but i never keep it up. i was an avatar chat girl as a kid and that’s still the place i feel the most comfortable i guess.

Day 14: Are you in a guild?

nope! i LOOOOOVED guilds and 10 year old me would be so upset to find out that i’m not involved in the Guild Life anyway. imo it’d be really cool if guilds got a rehaul.

Day 15: Favourite Faerie?

mira is my girl.. i like the battle faerie a lot too but i can’t remember her name.

Day 16: Do you have a gallery and does it have a theme?

i have one created but i don’t even know what’s in there, i don’t pay much attention to it. i think i just have a few plushies and petpets and random items i thought were cute or charming. i like the idea of one day having a guild with a cool theme.

Day 17: Do you use the Battledome?

not really. i have my dad’s old account now with a super super powerful battle pet (he was Famous in the BD and i think for a while his pet was one of the most powerful pets on the whole site) so i guess i should take advantage of that but i don’t

Day 18: Do you use the NC Mall?

nah... i use the free NC when i get it, usually. i think i have some accrued on a few different accounts that i just don’t use. it’s kind of a pain in the ass to worry about NC items in customizations on diff side accounts.

Day 19: Favourite shop to shop at?

i rarely even look at neopets shops lol. when i was younger i really liked the faerieland petpet shop. that’s all i got for u

Day 20: Favourite game?

i feel obligated to say spinacles bc it’s my blog title but i don’t even like spinacles, i’m just good at it and there were a good few months when i got a good number of people who aren’t normally super into neopets obsessed w/ beating my score and it Amused me. i’m not even like a spinacles Master but i do know how to get gold Very easily. anyway uhhh i think let it slide is fun and i’m fairly good at it but i hate playing it for np because it feels like it takes forever and it gets boring. i feel the same way about assignment 51 which i also like the Aesthetic of a lot. i have a love/hate relationship with ultimate bullseye II

Day 21: How many items are currently in your Safety Deposit Box?

Items: 1,900 | Qty: 2,828

Day 22: Whats the most amount of Neopoints you’ve ever had at one time?

i hit 8mil recently and then spent some of it on a royal pb. i had planned on going for 10mil before spending any (so i can get that sweet bank account upgrade) but i got impatient.

Day 23: Do you use the Stock Market?

occasionally. i don’t check it every day but i have a decent portfolio

Day 24: Favourite Daily (ex. Coltzan’s Shrine, Tombola, etc.)?

i kinda like the discarded blue grundo plushie or w/e in faerieland. i don’t know his whole stupid name but i remember when he was just a tiny pixel in faerieland that didn’t do anything, so it’s cute that he’s a daily now and gets visited by people more often.

Day 25: Do you decorate your Neohome(s)?

not at all

Day 26: What is a Paint Brush colour TNT should release next?

honestly why dont they just make pet pb colors out of colors that are currently petpet exclusive? birthday and valentine? fuckin.. picnic might be harder to execute but it’s out there and it’s a fun one.

Day 27: Favourite hero? Favourite Villian?

i’m not as educated about neopets lore as i’d like to be i think..... i like nabile, shes a hero right?? and i’ve always like balthazar. he’s a piece of shit.

Day 28: Favourite plot or site event?

my biggest regret is not being more involved in plots as a kid :( i read the comics but didnt participate. i really liked the LDP comic and wish i’d been part of the actual puzzles and stuff.

Day 29: Are there certain items you collect?

i kind of collect cute petpets, i love them and don’t usually get rid of them once i acquire them. same with cute plushies. also i like the poorly drawn items from the “artists day off” days, smelly jelly is one of my faves i think

Day 30: Why do you like Neopets?

there’s... so much to do!!!! like yeah the site is dying and jumpstart is digging its own grave and sooo many parts of the site are dead or broken or whatever but there’s still just, always a new goal to strive toward and a new thing to get into and i think that’s cool.

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