#you're a little tragedy

[hyperfixation-train-station]

✧ masterlist ✧

these are most of my hyperfixations at the moment and most likely what i am going to be writing for in the future.

✧ eric coulter

you're a little tragedy ✧ prologue - complete ✧ character aesthetic - complete ✧ chapter 1 - complete ✧ chapter 2 - complete ✧ chapter 3 - complete ✧chapter 4 - next stop, coming soon...

✧ tobias eaton / four

✧ ghost

✧ konig

other things i will be writing about in the future

coming soon...

[hyperfixation-train-station]

this is also eric and wyn coded tbh

where?

[knockknockitsnickels]

I think this is one of my favorite lines from the Wraith route because of (imo) how much the meaning changes depending on if you got there via Spectre or Nightmare. For Spectre, it honestly strikes me as a genuine question. Why are you doing this to her? If you're on the Spectre route, you presumably already know the Narrator can't really be trusted, since you had to reject his reward to get here. What are you hoping to gain from continuing to hurt her? For Nightmare, it honestly just makes me sad. As the Shifting Mound describes her, "She desires only companionship, but the only thing she knows is how to hurt." This line feels like a plea from someone who genuinely doesn't understand why you keep rejecting her. She wants to be with you, but she just can't understand how to do that in a way which doesn't hurt you.

[starry-bi-sky]

I'm having incoherent thoughts about clone danny again from the clone/clone^2 au (when am I not?) but more specifically I'm thinking about his reaction to finding out he's a clone. The standalone clone au digs into that a little more than clone^2, which is more focused on Danny and Damian's relationship. But neither (so far) really get into Danny's issues about finding out he's a clone after 15 years of thinking he wasn't.

Because he resents his parents for not telling him for so long. He resents the way he found out; through a trivial school project rather than a sit-down talk. He resents the fact that, apparently, they had meant to tell him sooner. But forgot. He resents the fact that they never told him because finding out feels like something was stolen from him when it had the chance to not be.

Danny Fenton, just fifteen, cloned not even half a year ago, knows what that personal violation of autonomy feels like. He knows what it's like to be cloned and while he loves Ellie, he does, she's his sister, and in this au his twin. But he is still left with that feeling of unsafety after realizing he'd been cloned. Being cloned is violating. The onset realization that it's so easy to get DNA without the other party noticing, and that what was stopping someone from trying to clone him again?

Followed only after with the rest of the inexplainable mix of feelings of being cloned, the rest of that inner conflict and panic that's an ugly mocktail of emotions that range from horror to fear. Trying to imagine what it's like to be cloned from the cloned party, and I imagine that it leaves you with the feeling of needing to crawl out of your own skin with discomfort.

And then he gets put on the other side of it. Danny Fenton, only fifteen, was cloned not even half a year ago, finding out he is a clone. And reactions, I imagine, can vary from person to person. But to him, it feels like something got stolen from him, like someone took a hole puncher and stuck it right into his chest and stole a chunk of himself from him.

It changes nothing about him and yet it changes everything. It's a betrayal on it's own to just find out he was a clone and they didn't tell him for fifteen years -- it shouldn't mean anything, because he's still Danny, and yet it means everything. It's him, it's him, it's about him. It's his personhood. It's about the fact that a load-bearing rock in his identity just crumbled beneath his feet and now there's a rockslide.

Because then he finds out that they used the wrong DNA. Its like pouring salt in an open wound. He's not even related to his parents or his sister, when for years he thought he was. It's the fact that pieces of his identity that he's been so secure in for so long just got ripped away from him in an instant. Then they tell him -- only through his own horrified prompting -- that the person whose DNA they used -- Bruce Wayne -- didn't even know he existed. That they accidentally used the wrong DNA, then didn't tell the person whose DNA they used.

The betrayal of being lied to for years turns really quickly into horror at his own existence. Something very similar to the horror he felt at being cloned and the skin-crawling discomfort that made him feel like his own skin wasn't really his. And then its not. It's actually not. Nothing but his own name feels like it belongs to him anymore -- not his hair, not his eyes, not his heart or his lungs, nothing feels like his anymore and he didn't know what that felt like until it was gone.

It's a question of Nature Vs. Nurture -- where does the line of "nature" begin and where does the line of "nurture" end? What of him is actually his? What of him is Bruce Wayne's? It's not logical, it's not supposed to be. It's a load-bearing wall on the house of his identity being destroyed and now everything else is caving down in on him. What belongs to Danny, what belongs to Bruce Wayne?

[arohuacheng]

imagining the story from pei ming's perspective is rlly funny i think. this god from all that time ago ascends again (you were there for the first two times) and immediately waltzes into a situation that fucks something up for your descendant (putting both of your reputations on the line, messing up how hard your descendant worked to become a god and how hard you worked to ensure that he would have that chance) and then refuses to let you smooth the situation out and on TOP of that your friend's little sister (who hates you and who you are trying to look out for by request of your friend) is on your case about it too. so you've gotta work all that out and then like. you chill for a little bit (still kind of upset about your descendant) until your friend undergoes a heavenly calamity. and then in the space of like A Day the god from earlier shows up again with a fucking ghost king, your friend dies, the little sister you're supposed to be looking out for disappears, and everything just kinda goes to shit. so you're like. grieving. trying to process everything. until your OTHER close friend goes off the fucking rails with the spirit of that guy she murdered, and then you get called out to the spooky ghost mountain where you're confronted with the girl whose death YOU were essentially responsible for and have never really come to terms with, and then like. you just kind of hang out with these gay people until everything resolves itself. fight some ghosts. fight the heavenly emperor. get your friend to stop being evil for a little while so she can fix the filing systems. and then you just have to keep being the god of love i guess

[tangledstarlight]

uh oh i thought about being human for 30 seconds too long and now i'm all stuck in my emotions about how this silly little show about a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf living together, that started in a little pink house full of smiles and light and laughter, ended in such darkness and tears and despair :(((

[sidereon-spaceace]

torn between wanting to make all my ocs Specialest Little Guys and overpowered VS. the fact I just finished watching all three extended editions of Lord of the Rings and am deeply moved by the struggles and worth of the common man

[jonathanbyersphd]

It was criminal to not have Mike and Nancy talk in s2 btw

[starculler]

strap in for this week's fic flavor: the failsafe episode of season one of the young justice cartoon except the simulation just won't. fuckin. end.

(fics that inspired this at the end)

If I ever did sit down to make my own fic, I'd split it in 3 parts:

The Simulation: bits and pieces of the 40 years Dick lives after most everyone he knows has died

The Return: the immediate aftermath and healing from the trauma of having not-quite-actually lived a whole life only to wake up and find out it was all fake. nothing traumatizing about that whatsoever.

The Unintended Consequence: aka the twist I'd love to add and would hint to in the second part - finding out the simulation, through martian mind fuckery, pulled from the real world (and in many cases, from real minds). Dick meets a bunch of people he didn't think were real outside the confines of his simulated life. A bunch of rowdy, heroism-inclined teens across the years get to meet the sibling/friend/mentor figure they all dreamed up one night.

(actual idea snippets under the cut)

.

Dick Grayson is 14 and most of the world's heroes have died. He planned a suicide mission that left him the sole survivor of a doomed team he helped found. The invasion may have been stopped, but is this really the price he wanted to pay?

The first face he sees in the infirmary is Roy's, and he has to close his eyes and just breathe for a few minutes because for one painful moment he'd thought it was Wally. But this isn't the world where his best friend miraculously survived alongside him. This is the one where he got his best friend killed and didn't even give him the courtesy of following behind him. Behind them.

.

Dick Grayson is 27 and has lived longer without Bruce than with him. The invasion's anniversary is always a tough day for him, but that morning seems especially harrowing. He'll get shit for it later, but can't resist stepping out onto the balcony of the manor's master bedroom (Bruce's old bedroom) for a smoke -- his first since he'd promised to quit if Jason, just 15 then, did too.

"Bad habits tend to pile up," he'd said, a rueful quirk to his tired grin. He'd tapped the cigarette twice on the railing and added, lower, "and this one's especially nasty, huh."

He inhales, watches the sun creep across the horizon, and lets acrid smoke burn through his lungs for a long moment before blowing it out in a small cloud. His eyes water, but he doesn't cough. It tastes just as bad as it did the first time he smoked one, not even a year after the invasion and treading water as Robin proved insufficient.

There hadn't been enough heroes to go around then, and Dick had been trained by one of the best. It hadn't been fair, but it had been his plan that had ultimately stopped the invasion. His shoulders everyone's expectations fell on.

He takes another drag, then smudges the lit end against the rail he's leaned on when he hears a boot scuff purposefully against the roofing above him.

"Todd and Pennyworth will be upset with you."

He doesn't turn around. Damian doesn't jump down to join him.

.

Dick Grayson is 54 and wakes up in a room full of ghosts. He hears his long-dead father-figure tell his long-dead team about a simulation they weren't meant to win. A training exercise gone wrong and only half a day spent under their mentors' careful, if slightly panicked, supervision.

He looks at his hands, watching the way his gloves crease when he flexes them in and out of tight fists. He looks at his team, their eyes a little haunted but shoulders slumped with relief even as they grumble. Batman's heavy, gloved hand settles on his shoulder and the weight of it is a nauseating mix of foreign-familiar.

He opens his mouth. Closes it.

Tears prick his eyes behind his domino mask, and he tells himself the suffocating, acidic void building in his chest is just some leftover side effect of the ordeal and not the grief-guilt of outliving yet another family (no matter that they hadn't been real in the end).

.

Dick Grayson is 16-going-on-56 and well used to the coincidences piling up between his simulated life and the real thing. Some of it -- missions and villains he remembers cropping up -- he's marked for Bruce to review and sort as he pleases. Some -- security for the cave, team building anecdotes, and training regimens -- he's shared with the team. And some he keeps only for himself.

Tim is one of those. He knows it's not fair to the kid (so much smaller now than he ever was when Dick lived his simulated life), but he can't help being selfish just for this. Tim is the one kid he's sure he didn't make up, and if Dick's taken to babysitting the kid just to be near at least one member of the family he built for himself in the wake of the worst days of his life .... Well, anyone who says shit about it can happily stand in line to have their teeth kicked in.

Despite this, it still catches him off-guard when he sees a familiar face pop up in one of Bruce's reports.

Jason Todd, caught boosting tires off the batmobile, is nearly the same age now as he was when Dick met him. He stares at the words, but none of them really sink in beyond the kid's name and address. He's moving before he's even made the decision.

He's used to the world kicking him when he's down - lived it for 40 frustrating years. But he has Bruce again. And things with Tim have been so good. And he's always been selfish when it comes to family. If he could just see Jason. If he could just meet him. If he could talk to him.

If if if if if--

.

Inspirations:

Circles in Shattered Mirrors by InfinityIllusion

Fine (But Not Okay) by CharlotteDaBookworm

Verisimilitude by mutemelody

[hyperfixation-train-station]

Chapter 3

✧ Word Count: 2535 words

✧ Author’s Note: I have some more time off of school then I thought so I should be able to write more ♡

✧ Summary: After being picked up by her previous knight in shining armour from the infirmary, Wyn receives a tour of the Dauntless compound and her new room, to which she realizes Eric is her roommate. As training starts tensions begin to fly between Eric, Wyn, and the other initiates. 

✧ Warnings: foul language

✧ Tag List: @mischief-merlyn

I wake up met by an unfamiliar face in an unfamiliar surrounding with a pounding headache. I let out a groan as I open my eyes and quickly shut them again due to the lights.

“Oh you’re awake, sorry about that let me turn off the lights for you” an unknown voice says from the corner of the room, I hear the lights switch off and open my eyes to see an older woman with a short grey bob hair cut and a black shirt on that says nurse across it. I pause and think back to how I ended up here in the first place, but all I remember is looking at Eric and then being knocked off the ledge of the roof with Eric falling right behind me… oh wait and I smacked my head off his hard ass head, I assume that is why I am here.

“I’m here because Eric’s hard ass head gave me a concussion didn’t it, that's why there are two of you right?” I ask the nurse, to which she burst out laughing while nodding her head

“You know that isn’t really how I described what happened, but it is not my fault I have dense bones” I hear Eric say, I jump not knowing he was here, I turn to see him standing in the other dark corner parallel from the nurse

“Isn’t it bad to scare people who are injured, what are you doing lurking in the dark scaring the shit out of poor patients who got concussed because of your skull hmm?” I ask him while putting my hands on my hips, I can tell that people don’t usually talk to Eric like this due to the nurse's reaction of finding this the funniest thing she has ever seen in her life. I see Eric shake his head and hide a smile, then he turns to the nurse and asks

“Is she all good to go? I got the medications and rundown of what to do from the other nurse at the front”

“She is all yours Eric” the nurse says, she waves at me and makes her exit. I continue to study Eric, he can’t be much older then me, he has many more tattoos now then when I saw him last, but the thing that stand out the most are his eyes, they are such a light blue and seem to be as cold as ice, they almost remind me of a frozen over lake, very pretty, but also very dangerous.

“Good to know you think my eyes are pretty sweetheart” Eric says with a shit eating grin on his face, 

“Well fuck, I said that out loud didn’t I” I say, seeing Eric nod. I feel my face heat up as I mutter a quick ‘kill me’ under my breath.

“Since you missed the tour of the complex with the other initiates, I’ll show you around the complex now so you don’t get lost on the way to training. Your training will be set up a little differently than the others for the first week due to the concussion you have, but I was told that the seeing multiples of things should be gone by tomorrow.” Eric says. I try to get off of the bed, but somehow my foot got stuck in the sheet to which I started to fall off the bed, Eric managed to catch me before I hit the floor again and sighed “And please try not to fall anymore” He says, to which I send him a salute back, too embarrassed to speak.

Eric leads me out of the infirmary stating that I now already know where this is, he mentioned that we were walking to the Pit, to which he said is the heart of all Dauntless life. On the way towards the pit he points out clothing shops, tattoo parlors and piercing shops. During this he explained that as an initiate I have a certain number of points assigned to me weekly that we use to buy the items in the store, after initiation if I pass he said the number of points you get goes up, but also depends on your job. We stop in to one of the clothing shops and get my free initiation black clothing. I am quite happy with the amount of items they provide us with, Eric sends me off to a change room to change into black clothing. Once I changed he led me down a hallway to an incinerator where I threw in the last thing that connects me to Candour, my old white clothes. I can’t help but grin as I watch them go up in flames.

“You okay?” Eric asks while seemingly trying to stare into my soul

“Never been better, I fucking hated that place” I tell him, which gets an approving nod from him. I can only assume that is a good thing, from what I have seen Eric seems to be someone not to be messed with. We continue our way down to the Pit, once we reach the Pit I see why Eric mentioned that it was the Heart of Dauntless. It is amazing and filled with a sea of black doing whatever activity they come up with. I see some arm-wrestling, racing each other around the Pit, and some doing a chugging contest. The Pit is a vast open cavern in the middle of Dauntless, everything seems to branch off from it. Looking around the Pit fills me with an inner peace I have never experienced before, there are spots for sparring, rock climbing, and also just seating to watch what is happening or chat with your fellow members. As we leave the Pit Eric shows me the Chasm, a sizable subterranean waterfall that empties into an underground river, it is situated just outside the Pit. 

“The chasm is the source of many suicides and though to jump off of the chasm is idiotic and cowardly in some cases, I also sees it as heroic and brave. You see once you reach a certain age at Dauntless, you can no longer do what you used to be able to do for our faction, many choose to leave this word through the chasm rather than leave the faction. I see it as a true Dauntless death.” Eric tells me

“You know that was a little dark to tell me on my first day here, but I understand what you mean, thank you for the heads up regardless” I responded. We continue walking in silence before Eric leads me down the hall of bars and nightclubs.

“I wouldn’t recommend spending a lot of time at these during initiation, but they do have special celebrations on days after testing set up to celebrate the initiates that passed. You’re technically always welcome in, but I wouldn’t recommend coming to training hungover” He tells me

“You sound like you learned that from experience” I say, to which he ignores and keeps walking. He leads me down another hallway and stops at a large double door.

“This is the transfer initiates training room, it is essentially a spacious area equipped with a wrestling mat, punching bags, a shooting range, and knife throwing targets. Before stage two of initiation, initiates spend the majority of their time in this training room. The Dauntless born don’t train with you in the first stage of training, but you are all ranked together. In stage one the bottom four ranked initiates will be cut.” Eric tells me while opening the door and showing me around the training room.

“Like cut as in factionless?” I ask, to which he just nodded. I assume this usually scares people, but I know that this will just push me to place higher and work harder.

“Does that scare you?” Eric asks me, I scoff

“Of course not, I didn’t come here thinking that I could just breeze through training and get to be a part of the faction even if I didn’t rank well. I intend to do my best and be the best by the end of this” I tell him, some emotion that I can’t decipher flashes through his eye, but just as fast as it came, it went. Eric nods again and continues on with his tour.

“These rooms here are for stage two of training, so you don’t need to worry about that until then” Eric says “and the room across from it is the initiate dorms, again Dauntless born are in a separate dorm, but other then that you all live together, well expect for you right now” 

“What? Why am I separate” I ask, utterly confused

“Because of your concussion and the new treatment from Erudite they gave you, you need to be monitored 24/7. That means essentially the faction decided that you will be living with me until you are medically cleared because I am a leader and Four is my neighbour so you will have a babysitter with you all the time.” Eric mutters, seeming not thrilled that I will be his roommate

“Huh okay, well roomie where are we living then” I say, clearly the decision has already been made, not much I can do about it. I also secretly want to know more about Eric, so it seems like a win, win to me. Eric looks at me baffled at my response, I simply shrug at him. He leads the way to his apartment. Once he opened the door the first thing that caught my eye was the spacious living room area that had floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the space with natural light. Of course all the accessories are black, I didn’t really care much about what the apartment looked like, but I love the windows. I could just imagine standing and looking out at them while drinking a coffee every morning.

“Do all apartments have windows like this?” I ask Eric, he shakes his head no “What a shame, must be one of your leader perks, I'd love to have windows like this after initiation” I continue on. Lost in thought while looking out the windows. Eric hummed in response before telling me it is time to head down to the canteen to get dinner. Once we enter the canteen Eric disappears from my side to sit with what I assume are his leader buddies, I spot Four at the table, he gives me a little nod as if to say hello. I look around until I spot Rory waving her arms at me, signaling me to come and sit with her, I look over at Eric who nods his head at me and make my way to sit with Rory. Once I sit down Rory grabs me a tray and tells me what each food on the table is and her recommendations. I dish up my plate and thank her.

“So why did you walk in with the most cynical man in Dauntless?’ Rory asks, I raise an eyebrow at her,

“Well you see because that cynical asshole's skull is so hard he gave me a concussion when we landed on the net because of the stupid Erudite boy knocking us both off, so I was unconscious for the tour of the complex. And well apparently the faction decided that Eric is my 24/7 babysitter because I need monitoring all the time until I am medically cleared. So dearest lucky Eric has me as his roomie for a week” I tell her, she stares at me with her mouth open for a solid minute, until I stick my finger in her mouth, to which she swats away

“I’ll keep you in my prayers” she tells me

“He doesn’t seem that bad” I tell her, she makes a ‘girl are you serious’ face at me “I don’t know, maybe I concussed him as well and he's turned nice?” I say, to which the table laughs at.

“Well let us know how it goes, you are now always welcome at our table because we want all the gossip you get from Eric” another Dauntless born says, I roll my eyes

“That's Rider, Zane, Madden, and Malachi,” Rory says, pointing to the four boys on the other side of the table who all nod once they hear their name. Rider has blonde hair, blue eyes, an eyebrow piercing, lip ring, has a super fair complexion and tattoos going up and down his arms. Zane has black hair and grey eyes, tanned complexion, no visible tattoos and piercings. Madden has a black buzz cut, brown eyes, dark-skinned complexion and about a million ear piercings. Malachi has brown hair, green eyes, a light-skinned complexion and tattoos running down his neck to which I assume cover his whole body.

“and this is Indigo.” She points to the girl on my left. She, as expected has dyed her long hair indigo, is very pale, seems to be wearing purple eye contacts, she has her septum pierced and two nose rings on each side of her nose. She seems to have not gotten any tattoos yet.

“and Faith” she points to the girl on the right. She has a dark brown pixie cut, is very tan and seems to not have any tattoos or piercings. Her grey eyes are the same colour as Zane’s, so I assume they must be twins.

“Hi I’m Wyn” I wave at them all. We sit and chat for a bit while eating. We hear a cup bang against the table multiple times and look up at the balcony overlooking the canteen. Max is standing there with his cup in the air 

“Initiates, stand” He says waiting for us to all stand, “You have chosen to join the warrior faction tasked with the defence of this city and all its inhabitants. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery and the courage that raises one person to stand up for another” He pauses looking around the crowd before continuing. “Respect that, do us proud” He finished. The loud cheers from the rest of Dauntless ring out before they start picking us initiates up and passing us around, making us crowd surf around the canteen. I am a little concerned that someone will drop me, when I am grabbed from one of the members and put on the floor by Eric.

“Thank you” I mutter while yawning, still exhausted from everything that has happened today.

“I don’t need you face planting on my watch” Eric says, then he pauses “Alright let's go get you to sleep before I end up having to carry you sleeping again, the amounts of looks I got last time was enough, don’t need that happening again” he mutter, I nod and wave goodbye to Rory and the others as we leave the canteen and head back to Eric’s apartment. Once inside Eric shows me my room, it is small and cozy, but I am too tired to really look around at it. I see the bed and face plant onto it. I hear Eric chuckle quietly before I fall into a dreamless sleep, excited for the first day of training tomorrow.

[hyperfixation-train-station]

wyn and eric coded tbh

[scribefindegil]

addendum to my ongoing "Reigen is a Discworld witch" agenda: Mogami is very specifically a Discworld witch who went bad

[bumblingbabooshka]

write to me

[imminent-danger-came]

I saw your tag that out of the 3 monkeys, macaque is the most mentally well, and i had a mini breakdown about the fact youre right. You shouldnt be right, but you are

IT FEELS WRONG RIGHT. Like, Macaque is the red and black edgy monkey with shadow based powers, and yet he's also the only one whose positive character arc has impacted the story in an undeniably constructive way. Who knows what would have happened had he not been there to help MK in both 4x10 and the s4 special.

And like, MK on the other hand has had a negative character arc for the whole show (with "Revenge of the Spider Queen" and "The Emperors Wrath" being small hills in the road, but knowing MK we're going DOWN next season). MK is still going to get worse before he gets better (I'm predicting mega guilt over having a hand in Azure's death, but we'll see—also everything about his monkey form/himself is pretty much unresolved soooo) and don't even get me started on Wukong. He ALSO has had a negative character arc the whole show, with his main improvement being his resolve to be more open with MK. But like, between Mei chewing him out in 3x10, getting possessed by LBD, and now his time spent in the scroll—let's just say I'm worried for the Monkey King.

At the start of the show I'd say MK, SWK, and Macaque are all mentally unwell in their own special and equal ways, but Macaque actually got somewhat better (thank you 3x13). He's the only one. It's ridiculous.

[longeyelashedtragedy]

"I’ve been helped by not just mixing with men in terms of in the dressing room, but also my physique, I realized hang on a minute, you know, men are men, there's a step here that I haven't made yet"

(x) (the first of many west ham footage videos)

[hyperfixation-train-station]

Chapter 2

✧ Word Count: 2545 words

✧ Author’s Note: Just finished this chapter today, I will me writing a lot more tomorrow so chapter should be coming out a bit quicker in the future.

✧ Summary: This is Eric's POV of what happened in Chapter one, plus the aftermath of what is to come after Wyn sees thew doctors at the infirmary, lets just say that Max has a plan that Eric isn't too thrilled about and Four thinks is hilarious.

✧ Warnings: foul language

✧ Tag List: @mischief-merlyn

Being in leadership at such a young age should be an honour, and it is, but right now more than anything I would rather jump into the chasm than being the leader that has to deal with more initiates. I swear they get worse every single year, we get people that think all Dauntless do is jump off shit and get tattoos, which I mean we do, but there is a lot more to it than that.

I look down at my watch and sigh, the train should be here soon. I wonder how many people will not jump off the train and need to be rounded up later this year. I mean honestly I don’t know what they expect us to do when they don’t jump off the train, every faction knows that the trains don’t stop, not that we would ever stop the trains for cowards that are too scared to jump off anyway. I guess it just makes the initiation process easier as it gets rid of the weak cowards early on. I start to feel the rumble of the train and I look up to see the first train car reach the roof. I watch a sea of black jump out of the first car, ah yes the Dauntless borns, and… wait is that white I see jumping out of the first car as well? Well i’ll be damned, a new initiate from Candour made it into the first car with the Dauntless borns

“That’s a rare sight, a Candour made it to the front of the train with the Dauntless born” Max, the leader of leaders in Dauntless, says

“Don’t get too impressed Max, initiates always have a way to let us down after doing something mildly Dauntless like” I mutter, Max just chuckles and rolls his eyes at me.

“You’re no fun, have at least a little faith in them” he says, I scoff, to which he just laughs at again.

My eyes begin to drift over the crowd, I don’t really know what I am looking for, my eyes seem to have a mind of their own and who am I to stop them from finding whatever they are looking for. Then I see her and immediately know that she was what I was looking for, the same brown doe eyes that I saw a little over a year ago now, those eyes were seared in my memory that night I found her. I never thought I would see the little Candour girl I saved from her own faction again. It was all luck that I even stumbled upon her and the group of Candour boys attacking her in the first place. It was one of my first patrols after initiation, I had turned down the wrong alley and gotten lost when I saw her. She had made eye contact with me before the boys even knew I was there. Although she never said anything I could see her eyes begging me to save her and well apparently I can’t say no to brown doe eyes. I mean sure I would’ve done something either way because those boys were disgusting, taking pleasure in attacking someone so much smaller than them, but I had never felt such a primal rage in my life before seeing her eyes plead for help. For a second I wonder if she recognizes me, but all the confirmation I need to know that she does is looking into her pretty brown eyes. I can almost see the anxiety building up inside her when she looks away and wraps her arms around herself for comfort, but instead of letting it take over, I watch as she forces her arms to hang by her side and keep eye contact with me. The sight makes me fill with pride, it seems the little deer has found her confidence. I suppress a grin, well maybe this initiation class just got a lot more interesting

“I’ll leave the introduction to you” Max says, breaking my train of thought. I sigh and mutter ‘lazy fuck’ under my breath to which Max simply grins at.

"All right, listen up!" I yell, instantly silencing the crowd,

"I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders. If you want to enter Dauntless, this is the way in." I motion off the ledge I am standing on. I feel a wave of unease and confusion run through the initiates and it makes me grin, this is one of my favourite parts, scaring the shit out of the initiates. I find myself looking to see the reaction of what I said on the little deers face, but she has a look of indifference, almost like she is thinking about how inefficient this entrance would be to use everyday. The thought is amusing to me, I look at the rest of the crowd and continue. 

"And if you don't have the guts to jump..." I pause, looking around the crowd once again "then you don't belong in Dauntless."

"Is there water at the bottom, or something?" a loud mouth Candour boy asks. I scoff, but I also catch a slight scoff from the little deer… I’ve got to stop calling her that and figure out her name. She must also hate the fact that her birth faction does not have the ability to shut up for longer than 30 minutes. 

"I guess you'll find out." I say while I give the boy a once over "Or not." I shrug. I hear a small chuckle and my eyes dart to the noise, of course it is her, the little deer.  

“Well who wants to go first” I say crossing my arms, I am starting to get bored of this process already. I think that is a new record. I wait for someone to volunteer.

“Me” Little deer says and she starts to walk over to the edge where I am standing. She steps up onto the ledge, I have to stop myself from offering her my hand to help her up, what is wrong with me? I never have feelings like this, let alone about an initiate. She makes eye contact with me now that she is beside me on the ledge, then she looks down at the hole in the roof. I see her about to step off the ledge when I am hit by a streak of blue, which sends me into my little deer and now we are both falling off the ledge.  All I hear as the two of us fall is an unfamiliar voice yell

“Wait no I want to go first” and Max yell,

“What the fuck”

My brain is working on overdrive as I realise there is a real chance that I could land on my little deer… wait mine?... Shut up inner monologue, now is not the time. Seems all I needed to do to get my mind working again was look to my left and see her falling with me.

“Oh fuck” I mutter and reach out to grab her arm, at least she isnt flailing around. I pull her towards me and make sure that she is above me so I take the impact when we hit the net. I pull her against my chest and then we hit the net. We bounce once, twice, smack, her head bounces off of mine. When we are finally flat on the net I hear a groan as her head pops up from against my chest to look at me.

“Why the fuck is your head so goddamn hard” She mutters at me with an angry expression on her face, she looks about as dangerous as a kitten and I can’t help but chuckle. 

“Um Eric? And a new person? Why did you guys jump together?” I hear Four ask from the side of the net. I look over at him and make a ‘bitch are you dumb’ face.

“Obviously we didn’t do this on purpose Four, some idiot Erudite boy ran at her so he could be the first jumper instead, but knocked me off and well I accidentally hit her and took her down with me” I grumble, as I lift her off of me and hand her over to Four. After she is off of me I climb off the net myself.  

“Are you hurt?” Four askes her, she looks up and starts laughing at him. Four gives me a confused look and I just shrug. 

“Ha ha there are four of you spinning around just like the number and your name” she tells him while laughing, Four and I make eye contact and cringe a little, she probably has a concussion. 

“I think she is concussed” He said

“Yeah she smacked her forehead against mine when we landed, I’ll take her to the infirmary while you and Lauren deal with the rest of them” I say, I turn to her and my brain decides this is the perfect time to find out her name. 

“What’s your name?” I ask her while holding onto her shoulder so she focuses on me instead of giggling at whatever she is seeing float in the air.

“Wyn” she says, “But like spelt W-Y-N… I’m pretty sure” she continues while rubbing her head. Well I hope she was right, or that will be the name she is stuck here with anyway.

“Okay, First jumper Wyn” Four yells to the others.

“Alright ready to go” I ask, I contemplate letting her try to walk beside me to the infirmary, but seeing as she saw four of Four earlier, with my luck she’d walk off another ledge somewhere. I decide it will just be easier to carry her, so I pick her up bridal style. It wasn't until I picked her up that I realised how small she is. I'm glad to see she isn’t skin and bone, that would now end well for her here if she was. But she sure as hell is short. 

“I could walk” She said

“You could, but this is easier, I don’t need you getting lost on the way and I have to come back and find you anyway” I tell her. I watch her huff and cross her arm in a pout. I can’t help but smile down at her, I could get used to having her in my arms more. I shake my head to get rid of the thought, now is not the time for that.

“Whatever you’re lucky i’m tired anyway” Wyn muttered while leaning on my shoulder and closing her eyes

“Wait no don’t sleep… shit” I say, shaking her a little to try and keep her awake but it is of no use, she is sound asleep. I sigh and continue to walk towards the infirmary. I pay no mind to the shocked and confused looks my other Dauntless members give me. Must be a shock for them to see the big bad Eric carrying a sleeping girl around the compound. 

Once I make it to the infirmary, nurses come up and rush me to put Wyn down on the bed. I do so and get out of their way so they can do whatever they need to do. I answer their questions on what happened. After about 15 minutes they tell me that she is fine, just concussed and that they will call me when she wakes up. They guess it will take 3-5 days for her to be fully healed thanks to the new treatment Erudite made for concussions. But that someone will need to monitor her the whole time. I thank them for their help, as the last people you want to hate you here at Dauntless are the nurses so I make sure to stay on their good side. They shoo me away to leave Wyn to rest. 

I make my way to Max’s office to discuss what we should do and what our next steps are seeing as she will need a permanent babysitter for the next week. I knocked on Max’s office door and entered after he confirmed he was there. 

“Well just got back from the infirmary, our first jumper Wyn will need to be monitored for a minimum of 3 days according to the nurses.” I tell Max

“So essentially she can’t live in the dorms right now and needs to live with a Dauntless member until she’s deemed healed by the doctor” Max says 

“Pretty much, any idea who would have space for that and actually make sure she doesn’t die?” I ask him 

“I feel like it is pretty obvious Eric” Mac says to me with a grin on his face that makes me feel uneasy

“I don’t like that grin… who do you have in mind… wait, nope I refuse, I like my space and I don’t share” I tell Max, crossing my arms, in reality I wouldn’t mind having to look after Wyn, but at the same time having her in my personal space could be dangerous. 

“Oh come on Eric, it’s not like i’m saying she is permanently moving in with you, you make the most sense, you’re a leader that is overseeing initiation and Four is your neighbour. So he could watch her when you can” Max says 

“You want Four and I to split custody of her?” I ask, Max gives me a pointed look, I know that look, it means his decision is final and I have no choice, I sigh, “Fine, i’ll go make the spare bed for her” I mutter walking out of Max’s office, not before seeing his smirk. He is doing thing in purpose to torture me.

I run into Four and the other initiates while walking back to the training room. Four looks at me and shakes his head, great even he doesn’t have faith in this initiation class and he actually is nice to people. I sigh and walk beside him. 

“I’m getting a roommate that we are supposed share custody of according to Max for a week” I mutter, Four raises his eyebrows in confusion, “Wyn, the first jumper, she has a concussion and with the new treatment from Erudite she has to be monitored the whole time until she is fully healed and apparently Max decided I was the best person for that” I continue, Four bursts out a laugh and I see the initiates give us a confused look,

 “What the fuck are you looking at” I bark out at them well elbowing Four hinting ag him to get his manical laughing under control, the initiates immediately apologize and look away,

“Sorry, sorry” Four says as I glare at him, “He thought you would be the best? That’s hilarious” he continues, before I can punch the stupid grin off his face my phone buzzes, I see it’s a message from the infirmary that Wyn is awake and she is ready to be discharged.

“Oh shut up” I mutter, “Finish up the tour and make sure the initiates are on time for dinner, I don’t need another scolding about not feeding the initiates” I tell him 

“Yes sir” Four says while saluting at me, I roll my eyes and head back to the infirmary to pick up Wyn.