Lil s1 movie-esque style poster to brainwash u into watching Pantheon! CRIMINALLY underrated sci-fi adult cartoon about Uploaded Intelligence (literally uploading your consciousness to the cloud) and it's effects on society starting from the intimate level of family and friends,scaling to the whole entire earth and beyond.
Rare w, 2 illustrations in one month 😳 I recently watched this on my husband's whim, and I am not even being a little bit dramatic by saying this show changed my life n altered my brain chemistry.
AMC fumbled the marketing on release in 2022, but it's now on NF! It's only 2 seasons, 8 eps each. Stream it NOW bc I need more fanart and peeps to talk to about it!!
A/N:Tried to make something with some more dark undertones.
Maid!Reader who was born into serving the crown and has been around since she was a kid learning to do her work and fitting into the workforce of the palace.
Maid!Reader who has seen Prince!Caspian around since she was a kid, always interested in him but never daring to talk to him.
Maid!Reader who has never been brave enough to approach him so she just watched him from afar while she did her task around the castle.
Prince!Caspian who notices how Maid!Reader stares at him across the room and chooses to take matters into his own hands.
Prince!Caspian who hangs around where Maid!Reader is working and starts to read to see if she will make a move on him.
Maid!Reader who keeps on doing her task without a second thought and just bows to him when she exits the room.
Prince!Caspian, who is surprised she didn't want to ask him for something or try to get on his good side, and comes to like her silent company.
Prince!Caspian who starts to talk to her about his day loving how Maid!Reader listens to him without criticizing just with a casual hum of agreement as she works.
Maid!Reader who is scared and thinks this is some kind of twisted test to see if she knows how royalty should be treated, if she will cross the line and act out of line for a maid.
Prince!Caspian who, delighted with how Maid!Reader seems to be different from the boring nobles convinces his reluctant father to assign her as his personal maid, so he can have her beside him at all times.
Prince!Caspian who thinks everyone must have a motive to approach him and wants to know why Maid!Reader seemed to be interested in him.
Prince!Caspian who talks to Maid!Reader constantly tries many things to see if he can crack her polite exterior and find out her true intentions. And find… Nothing…? She just seems to be that way??
Prince!Caspian who hangs out all the time with Maid!Reader to the point where everyone realizes their closeness may be something else.
Prince!Caspian who is told that he must stop talking to Maid!Reader since she is not worthy of receiving his politeness and is threatened by the King there will be consequences if this keeps going on.
Prince!Caspian who, in an act of rebellion, when the time comes to choose a future queen he chooses Maid!Reader.
Maid!Reader who is scares shitless because she doesn't know how she should act in this situation, is she allowed to decline the proposal? But if she did that would be considered betrayal to the crown and a failure to compile with her masters’ orders. She realizes she is trapped.
Prince!Caspian, who is announced by the King in private that tomorrow morning he will announce the execution of Maid!Reader for seducing and convincing his son for choosing her as his Queen. And reassure him there's no shame in falling victim to a witches’ magic.
Prince!Caspian who tries to convince his father that's not what happened, he just simply loves her and she loves him, why can't he understand it? But nothing seems to make the King budge which puts Prince!Caspian on the edge.
King!Caspian who is crowned after his fathers suspicious death and funerals and now is the new King, ruling over all the kingdom.
King!Caspian whose first order after ascending to the throne is crowning Maid!Reader as his queen.
King!Caspian who everyone intuits killed his own father for the crown and who's happy to have Queen!Reader by his side until death do them part.
In the next weeks and months, the ‘accidents’ kept happening and your research was fruitless, you hadn't managed to find out any type of information that might explain what the hell you were or what was wrong with you. Still you tried to keep up your hopes, wishing something appeared from nowhere to give you the answer to all your questions. Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as that and life simply went on. Some days were pretty harsh, especially when Caspian's dad came around. It had become the norm for him to come over to your house in those times when he didn't want to hear his parents or their shouting.
Seeing this problem over and over again you had tried several times to improve Caspian's situation by all means, but apparently it was impossible to do so. It was almost like his mother refused to accept any changes that might improve the violence, both physical and physiological. It also didn't help that Caspian seemed to try to avoid the topic at all costs. With time you understood that the best thing you could do was giving Caspian all your support to try to live with the situation.
As time passed you got more and more close to each other, tiptoeing around the line between friends and something more. It was clear you gravitated towards each other but both of you tried to keep your distance, never having the guts to cross the line, even as you cuddled together in Caspian’s bed after his parents had a very heated argument. You couldn't argue there was something that felt magnetic between you two, but both of you were too scared to make a move and Hanna's arrival hadn't helped at all. She seemed laser focused on getting close to Caspian, a little bit too close for your liking if you had to be honest. Not only that, it also seemed almost as if her life depended on it, as she was endlessly flirting with Caspian. It made you blood boil, you knew it shouldn’t, after all you and Caspian were just friends, and, even though he didn't seem to like her that way, you shouldn't be bothered by him getting a girlfriend, even if something inside you hated the idea of seeing him in a romantic relationship with someone else.
It would be understandable to say you didn't really like her, and it seemed like the feeling was mutual, she always gave you forced smiles and she continuously seemed to murmur with her friends when you walked by. In the first days she entered the high school the rumor had it she talked ill behind your back. That predicament changed quickly when she saw that wasn't the way to get closer to Caspian tho.
Honestly, you had grown to just ignore her as you did with most people at high school, and chose to focus on the investigation and your studies. Over time you noticed that Caspian, also seemed to sense something wrong with her, keeping his distance through her endless flirting and attempts to get closer to him. In a way that made you happy and your happiness only grew when one day while you were binge watching a series he said something that made you love appreciate him more if it was even possible.
-You know why I don’t like Hanna?-He whispered. At first you were shocked as the question seemed to come out of the blue. Then you remembered that same morning you had seen her talk while pointing in your direction while you walked through the hall with Caspian. It shocked you that he still remembered it.
-No, why?-You asked, turning to look at him as he continued to look at the screen. The light glow of the screen lighted his features giving him an eerily glow.
-Because she is messing with you-He said matter of factly. Turning to look at you with a faint smile.-And whoever messes with you messes with me-He said, squeezing softly your hand in reassurance. Then he went back to watching the series as nothing had happened while you felt as if your heart wanted to come out of your chest.
After that day you didn't bother looking Hanna's way again while you talked happily with Caspian as you traversed the halls. To be honest you no longer cared about her opinion, and your initial distraught seemed silly at this point.
Meanwhile you had continued to investigate your origins and the strange ‘abilities’ they seemed to give you. And to no one's surprise there was nothing relevant in the whole Internet, ignoring the alien allegations and all the crazy theories which were already proven false. Everything fell into a kind of routine but not everything went as you wished they went, and reality hitted you hard as you held Caspian's shaking hands. You were kneeling on the floor of his bedroom as he sat in his bed. You took his hand gently and started taking care of his slightly bloodied knuckles.
-I never thought he would really hurt her-He whispered, voice shaking and eyes lost. It painted you to see him so broken.
Silence drifted thick in the atmosphere, neither of you really sure of what you were meant to say as you carefully wrapped his knuckles.
Once you finished wrapping them up you looked at him. He seemed like the one who was defeated as he sat in his bed, head hung low and buried in his freshly bandaged hands. Sensing your gaze he slowly raised his head looking into your eyes. You spent some time just looking at each other in silence, neither of you sure of what to do next. After some hesitation you hugged him tightly as he also embraced you, wrapping his arms around you.
-I’m so sorry-You murmured not sure of what you were meant to say in this situation, you couldn't even start to imagine the pain he must be feeling. After some time you untangled yourself from his arms and took his head between your hands kissing his forehead lovingly. As you separated from him he took your wrist in his hand in a gentle hold.
-Can you stay?-He asked in a barely audible whisper.
-Of course-You said as you smiled at him.
That night you slept on the floor with your bodies tangled in an embrace happy to have each other through everything. You felt like your life was complete as you felt the warmth of his body and his even breathing beside you. Maybe you could spend the rest of your life like this.
Even though in the coming days he still seemed troubled by what happened he kept helping you search on the web for answers to your questions. Once again you felt you would be lost without him, maybe that's the reason he was the first person you ever saw, maybe destiny was pulling you towards him. Finally, after a lot of investigation one day you seemed to make a breakthrough.
You were lying in Caspian's bed scrolling through your phone searching on the web for any instance of someone coming out from a computer while Caspian was doing the same sat at his desk scrolling through weird alien theories coming out from electronic devices in his computer. Every single thing you read seemed even more crazy than the last one, and every single one of the stories seemed to be the product of a very creative imagination. You thought that the evening would be uneventful as it always was when you tried to find an answer for all the things you didn't understand about yourself.
-I think I found something-You froze as you heard Caspian say that.
-What?- You felt the need to double check if you had heard it correctly. Honestly, you didn't believe you would find anything useful on the web.
-I think I found something-He repeated as he moved his chair to the side so you could see what was on his screen.-You might be an uploaded intelligence-He announced searching for more information about it on the web. You watched as he entered different webs that talked about this concept which was first talked about by Stephen Holstrom and was based on uploading a copy of the human brain to the clouds. It seemed there wasn't any record of this new intelligence passing the hypothetical phase but it's always possible that it was developed in experiments hidden from the view of the public.
-If that's true that would mean I had a life before… All of this-You said as you read the information on Caspian's screen. You felt weirdly melancholic about a life you lost but don't remember. Missing something you can't recall living. It felt weird, being robbed of something you don't even remember having. But now that you knew it was missing you couldn't help but want it back.
Sensing your uneasiness, Caspian held your hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
-We’re not sure you are an uploaded intelligence, we would have to make some tests to see if you really are one of them, the only problem is that there's no effective way of telling if you're an UI, since there aren't even details of how they were planning to do the process of uploading someone-He said as he kept checking many sources and pages to try and find any information of these experiments.
-Then we will have to be a little bit creative…-You murmured already thinking of some unconventional ways of testing it.
-What are you thinking -Said Caspian, turning to look at you with an intrigued smile. You always seemed to have… creative ideas.
-I don't think this is gonna work-Muttered Caspian looking at you between curiosity and worry.
-I’m sure it will work-You muttered as you held into one end of a charger while the other end was connected to Caspian's computer.-If I came out of your computer I must have some weird connection to it or something. If I connect to it I might be able to go back inside or to control it without using my hands or something…-He sighed with resignation, this was your only idea, and if he had to be honest he didn't have a better one or one at all.
-Go ahead-He said begrungingly as he turned to open up the notes program in his computer to see if you would be able to write something in it. After hearing his approval you breathed in slowly, trying to infuse yourself with confidence and bravery even though you weren't really feeling very sure of this idea. Before you could spiral into an endless circle of unsureness and paranoia you stuck the end of the cable into your mouth waiting for something to happen with your eyes closed and fingers crossed.
But nothing seemed to happen. You opened one eye, curious to see if you were still in the same place, and, you were. You sighed in frustration.
-Doesnt seem to work-You said as you removed the cable from your mouth. Caspian spun his chair around to look at you.
-Try to focus on a word and let's see if you manage to write it on the computer.-He said with an encouraging smile as he spun back to continue to monitor the computer.
You closed your eyes and focused on trying to convey a one word message to the computer. Caspian, that was your one word message, it had come to your mind as he proposed this idea and, honestly, you think that it was a pretty fitting word. After all he was the one who has stayed by your side since the beginning, always there to lend a hand with seemingly endless patience for you.
You focused and focused more and then some more until you felt like a vein was gonna pop out of your brain. Then you opened your eyes with a sigh:
-Did it work?-You asked, looking at Caspian. He spun his chair to look at you and by the look in his face you already knew the answer. So you stopped him when he opened his mouth to answer you-It didn't work, did it?-You said, sighing sadly. Caspian shook his head and got up to sit down on the floor beside you.
-I’m sure we will find the answer to everything-He said putting an arm around your shoulders.
-Yeah-You said looking at him with a defeated smile-I still have some more ideas-You said as your smile morphed into a hopeful one.
Not wanting to give up you spent the next few days trying different methods, each weirder than the last one to try to prove if you were an UI or not. You were sure you tried everything anyone could ever try from smooshing your face against the screen of Caspian's computer trying to go back inside to testing if you had some kind of telepathical connection to the computer or even going to the doctor to see if he managed to find something weird about you. Pityfully nothing seemed to work, you weren't able to form any sort of connection with the computer and every single test you managed to get done came back perfectly normal without any tell of you being anything that wasn't a normal human. But the ‘accidents’ kept happening when someone fucked around a little bit too much for your liking. It was small things like them slipping on a banana peel or appearing awful in a photo which ends up posted. They seemed harmless coincidences but when too many coincidences came together you couldn't help but wonder if it was something more than just that. And you hated feeling so foreign to Caspian's world to the point you weren't even sure you were the same species as him or if there was someone like you on this planet at all.
-Doesn’t seem to work-Caspian announced as you finished another useless and tiring experiment. You sighed heavily, by this point you had tried everything you could possibly come up with. It felt like a dead end and it was infuriating to get nothing from all your effort. You sat on the floor of Caspian's room staring into space feeling defeated and a tad bit helpless once again.
You heard how Caspian turned around to look at you in his chair but you felt disconnected from reality. As if everything that was happening around you was merely white noise in the back of your brain.
-Are you okay?-Caspian’s voice cuts through your mental fog and your gaze centers on him.
-I don't know-You mutter.-It’s weird not knowing what I am it where I came from, I always thought that it didn't matter at all. But now I feel like there's a piece missing from my life. I mean, I could have had a life before this that I know nothing about-Hearing your distraught Caspian sat besides you and you leaned your head on his shoulder.
-We’ll get through this-He assured you holding you hand-Together-You liked the certainty in his voice almost as if he saw the future and already knew what was yet to come.
Feeling tired and a little bit defeated you chose to spend the rest of the evening playing video games together.
-Goshhhh-You whined defeated letting yourself fall onto Caspian's bed and letting your phone fall from your hands-Why were our teammates so bad?!-You muttered covering your face in exasperation.
-Right?-Caspian removed his computer head set and turned around to look at you.-It seemed as if they were walking straight to their death-Complained Caspian smirking as he got up. Hearing the sound of the chair moving you opened your fingers to see between them what he was up to.
-Are you tired -You asked as you saw him sit down on the bed beside you.
-Nah-He said as he also laid down on the bed.-I just don't think I can handle another shitty match.-You snorted hearing his reason.
-Can’t you take a couple of bad matches?-You asked mockingly.
-Of course but I’m doing this for your sake. You're getting tilted and I’m not carrying you-He said looking at you with a smirk. It made you want to hit him and melted your heart at the same time.
-Mhm, I’m sure that's the reason-You said teasing him. He sighed smiling and sat up.
-Plus if you want we can still go for a walk-He said standing up. You hummed in agreement and took the hand he offered you to help you get up.
As you came out from his house he bid his mother goodbye.
-We’ll be back soon-He said as you came out through the front door of his house.
-Be carefull-Said his mother, smiling sweetly at him. Then as you left you swore you saw her in the corner of your eye staring daggers at you.
To be honest you always had that feeling that she didn't like very much or at all. Even through time you didn't manage to make her like you even though you had tried everything you could think of to try to please her from helping her around the house to giving her small gifts which always seemed to disappear within a week. You hated the way she looked at you like if your mere existence annoyed her, like if you weren't supposed to exist in the same universe as her. You guessed you will eventually just get used to it. After all, it's impossible to be liked by everyone.
While you walked idly though the city the sun started to set giving way to an orange color that tinted the sky and lighted everything in its warm light. You always thought everything looked ten times better in this soft lighting which made everything seem like a dream.
As you slowly made your way to the park, following your usual route you bought an ice cream. You loved your small routine for walks and today the park seemed ethereal, light bathing the beautiful flowers and the vivid leaves from the trees. As you sat on a bench while enjoying your ice cream everything seemed perfect. If you had to be honest it felt a little bit too perfect almost as if it was a dream except it wasn't, it was just reality.
You were sitting with Caspian on your usual bench, which was perfect for relaxing in silence no matter the conditions. In there it was always the perfect spot to relax, even if it was a lovely midday or a silent night. Caspian offered you a headphone which you accepted eagerly. Soon the music started to fill your ear, a perfect complement to the beauty presented in front of you if they asked you. You immediately recognised the first song as one of his favourite singers, which you had also grown to enjoy and listen to.
-I love this-You muttered, still staring at every single detail you could absorb from the moment, trying to engrave it mentally. You leaned into Caspian and placed your head on his shoulder.
These were the scarce moments when you felt at peace, when the constant need gnawing at your brain to prove that you deserve to exist was in pause and you stopped feeling the duty to search the truth about yourself and find out about your past, your purpose.
-Thank you-You whispered to Caspian. You didn't know why you had said it but you felt the need to tell him how you felt. The environment seemed to scream at you to confess everything you felt.
-For what?-Caspian said looking at you surprised and a little bit confused.
-For everything-You said looking at him fondly.-I wouldn't be able to be here without your help. I mean who chooses to help a girl who happens to appear from their computer. You helped me and guided me through this world when everything was so new and confusing to me. And even if I didn't know and still don't know what I am, you stay beside me, and help me to find and answer.-Caspian shook his head with a small smile.
-You don't need to thank me for anything -He said, cradling softly your cheek.
-Of course I do.-You said as you felt your heart rate pick up.-You were there when I literally had no one and asked nothing in exchange for all your help. Thank you for standing beside me and helping me navigate this world Caspian. -Caspian looked away from your face as pink dusted his cheeks and the tip of his ears.
-It's not that important -He said flustered. He hesitated to say something as he seemed to try to decide if it was worth it or if he was brave enough to say it. After a moment of doubt he sighed and looked at you. With determination in his eyes he continued to talk-You know, you’ve also helped me your fair share-He said affectionately.-It was nice for once meeting someone who didn't criticize my exterior and chose to stay despite everything that was going on in my life-You saw sadness clouding his eyes as he remembered his last encounter with his father some time ago. You felt anger boiling in your veins.
-You shouldn't have to go through that, in fact, no one should go through something like that.-You muttered, feeling both mad and sad. It was unfair for a kid to suffer so much just because. It was unfair for a teenager to have to protect his mother from his father. It was unfair for him to have to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of his mom just because his father couldn't and didn't want to.
-I know. But it's not easy to keep friends around when they see your father treating your mother like that -You saw as anger crept its way into his voice and how his hands balled up into fists. It was the first time you had actually talked about it with him, sure you knew the situation with his father but he always seemed to try to avoid talking about it even after the incident with him.
It really seemed like this atmosphere made people want to speak about the deepest part of themselves. Not knowing what to say to make him feel better you embraced him hugging him tightly as he also wrapped his arms around you as if he didn't want to let you go. And for the first time ever you felt a year drop into your skin as you held Caspian tighter.
After some time you finally untangled.
-Thank you for everything-He whispered looking into your eyes.
-No, thank you for everything-You said smiling sweetly at him.
As you stayed looking at each other, eyes locked, you felt a familiar feeling bubbling up in your chest. It was a feeling that had been growing since you had met. It always seemed to resurface in moments like this when you realized that Caspian would be there by your side no matter what and that you would stay at his side through everything that came your way. It didn't matter what hour of the day it was or what weather it made this feeling always warmed your heart and made you feel like putty. At first you had tried to ignore it, not really sure of what it was or how you were supposed to deal with it, were you even meant to feel like this? After a while you had accepted to live with this strange sensation and in no time you had discovered what it was. With a sigh you looked straight at Caspian who was looking at you intently as well.
-I love you-The words left your mouth before you could really process what you wanted to say. It did seem like this environment made you want to spill all your feelings… But, was that what you were meant to say? Have you been weird? You really didn't know if you were meant to say it, you didn't even know if this was a good time. Sure thing you had seen movies where they asked out the other person in the park but on the screen the moment to confess everything always seemed so obvious.
You looked at him, waiting scared for his reaction. He seemed surprised, was that a good or a bad thing? Dis you just fuck everything up? Your thoughts ran through every single possibility as you waited for his answer.
Finally you saw him smile softly. That was a good thing, wasn't it? And after what felt like an eternity but wasn't more than a second he opened his mouth to talk, to finally put you out of your misery and solve all your doubts.
And then, darkness. Was this what was supposed to happen right now? You don't recall this happening in the movies…
Been in a bit of a writer's block lately 'cause I usually write at night and I hadn't been able to write at night time but I'll try to finish the third chapter of Otherwordly Love by next week(I hope I don't jinx it🤞🤞🤞)
A/N:Got hooked to the Rookie and postponed writing this a little bit to much, hopefully I'll finish writing next episode.🤞🤞🤞🤞
You sat in front of the computer on a Sunday morning. The next day you would start high school, and, to be honest, you were excited and scared at the same time, unsure of what was going to happen. Right now you were focused on searching for learning methods to learn coding. As to why, you were trying to learn hacking from scratch. Some time ago, giving in to your insistent pleas, Caspian had shown and demonstrated to you how hacking worked. After that your interest had grown even more, you were adamant in not only learning but also mastering this ability.
For now you had seen plenty of videos while you tried to absorb all the information you could from it. Strangely you found out that instead of having to study or memorize it, the information just… Made sense, it clicked inside your mind like a long forgotten piece of information that was retrieved once you remembered what you were looking for. You spent all night learning to code at an amazing rate amazed by your new found ability, and how it seemed to be rooted deep inside your brain.
By midnight you could already solve some easy hacking problems, and you didn't think this was normal. It just seemed too easy to you, maybe at some point, in a past you didn't remember, you had coded and, like riding a bike, it never truly erased from your memory, who knows, maybe you were simply a genius, even though you doubted it.
You spent most of your night learning and absorbing everything you could learn about hacking, adamant to see how far you could go, how much you could learn. At some point during the night you remembered you had high school the next day. Even though you didn't want to stop your investigation and practice, you knew you should sleep to make a good impression on your first day of high school. Reluctantly you retreated from your spot in front of the computer and went to your bed.
In the middle of the night, as you laid awake in bed, you couldn't help but feel weird. Since you had started to live in this flat, it had never felt right to sleep on a bed. Sure it was kind of soft, but nonetheless you missed the feeling of floating around when you doze off. It was true it had been a nightmare to be in that void but it still was the only place, you had ever lived in and, in a kind of stupid way, you missed it. Even if it had never truly been a home to you, you missed being in a place where everything felt so predictable and peaceful. A place in which you felt you belonged.
While you slowly drifted to sleep, your mind dizzily went through your thoughts. You rechecked mentally all the things you needed for tomorrow. Thanking for the nth time for having Caspian, who was always there to help you adapt and learn more about this new world.
Since that first day you had been contacting through mails, with an account he had helped you to make. Your chats were daily and you had asked him countless dumb questions to which he answered with surprising patience. Sometimes you wondered how he was so patient with you, honestly you were amazed he hadn't dismissed you as a lost case… You thanked the gods for having sent him your way, even though you weren't really sure there were any kind of gods. As you entered the kingdom of dreams your last thought went to him, and maybe, just maybe, you would dream about him that night. Maybe you would dream of giving in to that invisible force that pulled you two together and that urge to ignore everything and melt into his embrace.
The next day the alarm went off extremely soon, or maybe that was your impression because you had gone to sleep late, who knows?? Sheeplessly you opened your eyes and threw on the first things you saw in your wardrobe, you looked at yourself in the mirrors and you would swear you looked decent. Highly concentrated, you put inside a bag all the things Caspian told you you would need for high school, which he had helped you to buy a few days before. You checked the contents of the back over and over again, as you munched at some cereal. This was your first day and you didn't want to fuck up this time, everything had to be perfect. After checking the route you had to follow a million times, you finally exited your apartment with your keys firmly grasped in your hand and the weight of expectations, along with the bag which carried all your books and supplies, on your back.
As you walked through the street you felt your legs trembling and your heart thumping against your ribcage. You felt like an intruder in this place, and every time someone looked in your direction you would have sweared they saw through you and knew what you were, an impostor, who wasn't meant to be in there. You hated the feeling with every single nerve of your body, and you also felt the pang of pain of knowing that you would never truly be just a normal citizen from San Clemente.
As you arrived at the high school, you saw as the doors were still closed, maybe it wasn't time to go inside. It was true you had come out of your house with quite some spare time, in case you got lost, or some other incident happened. As you waited for the time to come in you couldn't help but fidget and look around. The whole time you had to wait you were nervous as you swore you felt people’s gaze on your back even though the street was mostly empty. You tried your best to think of something else and you started to stare at the metal fence like door that kept locked the highschool. The details on the door were exquisite and it mimicked vines, leaves and other natural elements.
The door greatly contrasted with the inner building where you assume you would attend classes, those buildings were way simpler and they had tons of drawing and symbols graffitied upon their walls, unlike the door, which remained mainly untouched, just small sections of chipped paint. As you wait you continue to observe cautiously the structure of the highschool. The compound of buildings which composed the classrooms, offices and other facilities were surrounded by a fence. The door in front of you was one of the entrances, and the one that was closer to your house.
After waiting what felt like forever, finally someone appeared to open the entrance. As they opened the gate they seemed greatly confused at seeing you standing in front of the doors waiting to enter at such an early time. You should arrive at high school later from now on…
With your cheeks reddened in embarrassment you waited until the janitor finished opening the gates. Once you could finally enter the buildings you chose to go inside even though you knew it was way too early. Taking advantage of your extra time before the classes started you decided to go to visit the director’s office to make sure everything was in order and ask for your time table. And amazingly you managed to do this visit without being too awkward. Or at least that's what you hoped.
Seeing that you still had some time left before the start of the classes, search for the class rooms you would need to go to to attend your classes. ‘This place feels like a labyrinth’ you thought while you walked through the seemingly endless corridors of the building. Luckily, after some time you managed to know more or less the locations of the main classrooms you would probably have to attend to later that day.
As you finally walked to your first class, already seeing some students in the hall and corridors, you felt nervous to officially start your first day at high school and even more so to see Caspian. Eventhough you had already seen him a bunch of time you always felt anxios over being on the same place as him, and you felt the nervous need to make sure you avoided all the possibleyou to fuck up, and embarrassed yourself, in front of him. As you walked into the class you weren't really sure where you had to sit down so you just stood there between the tables looking around for someone to help you. With a deep breath you chose to ask a nearby group of girls to see which seats were taken.
-I’m sorry, is this seat taken? -You asked, voice quiet, not really sure if you should have asked them. Thankfully they seemed to hear you and they turned around to look at you.
-That's my place-Said and irritated voice behind you before any of the girls could answer. You felt a shiver run up your spine and you moved as quickly as possible out of the way. As you turned you saw a girl looking pissed off at you.
-Oh, I’m sorry, I’m new and I don't really know how this works.-You said voice trembling slightly. You had managed to mess up, in record time. But you didn't understand why she was so mad and by the looks of the other girls they found it hilarious.
-You stay out of my way-She said pointing at you accusingly-That’s how It works.-You opened your mouth frustrated and dumbfounded, but you didn't understand what the hell was happening, not what you were meant to say.
-Someone woke up with the wrong foot-You recognised Caspian's ironic tone. And sure enough soon you saw him appear entering the classroom as soon as the bell rang. Once again you thanked Caspian for saving you, scurrying away towards him.
-Oh, no, what are you gonna do about it? Is the scary goth gonna shoot me and become a vigilante?-She said bursting out in laughter and you heard the group of girls which were nearby also laughed wholeheartedly with her. You stopped in your tracks, lips pursed in indignation, what the hell was wrong with her? But as you were going to tell her some rather ugly things, Caspian raised his hand asking you to stop and shrugged.
-Do you want to sit besides me?-He asked, hand on your shoulder, as he walked towards his desk. As you settled down on your chair you heard the teacher enter the classroom. They looked tired, and very done with life, characteristics that you would soon learn were common between all of not most of the teachers.
As the teacher started their lesson you couldn't help but ask Caspian about what happened before.
-What's wrong with her?-You whispered to him, trying to look like you were paying attention to whatever the teacher was saying.
-People messed with her all the time before. I guess she thinks the best defense is the offense.-He answered sighing-I think it's best to ignore her.-
-But she was being a douchebag and a jerk, someone should tell her to stop. Just because she is angry it doesn't mean she should take it out on someone else!-You declared, not really sure of why Caspian was so reticent to do something or speak up for himself. He smirked and shrugged.
-Last person who did that ended up socially dead, he was even less popular than me.-He said jokingly.-Nobody wants to be on her bad side. You squinted your eyes at her. You weren't really happy about it but if ignoring was all that was needed, then you were pleased to do it.
You soon grew accustomed to your new life, you filled your apartment with small things you bought, and it started to feel more like a home. Slowly but surely you were learning lots of new things, both inside and outside high school, while you discovered a new world which in its core felt so familiar to you for some reason unbeknownst to you.
After some time you fell into a routine and, honestly, you were the happiest you've ever been. With Caspian's help you managed to improve at hacking at a speed he believed was unhuman, which made sense since you weren't even sure you were one. In a couple days more you managed to start winning small amounts of money through it and within a few weeks more you impressingly managed to pay back Caspian all the money he had lent you. He seemed utterly shocked and he didn't really understand how the hell did you manage to retain information so well both in high school and coding. To be honest you had grown to love hacking, it was like an extension to yourself and it came to you in a natural way, you loved to solve the problems the corporations uploaded and to be paid for it was a big plus. Being honest you secretly put a bit more effort into it just to see a smile on Caspian's face. You also grew to love Caspian's explanations and you learned to play dumb now and then just to feel his warmth as he leaned closer to see what you were struggling with.
You also had lots of fun teasing him.
It was a routine for you to spend time with him, since you didn't have anyone else in the city or in the whole world to be honest. His bedroom infused you with calmness and there you felt like home, more so than your actual home did. If you had to be honest, where you lived only felt like a place full of things you owned but you didn't really have any emotional attachment to it. As you laid in bed in Caspian's house one day you watched baby memories with him, an idea that had appeared due to the unremarkability of the evening.
-You were so cute when you were small, seriously!-You fawned, while holding one of the million he had stored in boxes.
-You don't have to lie to me-He answered with a small smile.
-No, really, I think you would have beautiful kids-You said without thinking much about it. But soon enough you saw the effect the comment had on Caspian as he blushed a bit, pink dusting his cheeks and the top of his ears. Coughing awkwardly he started to look anywhere except at you while he stammered a little bit while explaining the next photographie.
Even though it was hard to catch him by surprise you also learned to love this side of him, endeared by how unusual it was to see him like that. Soon enough you started to come up with strategies to manage to fluster Caspian, and each time you managed to pull it off felt like a small victory.
In another of those frequent hangouts, when Caspian was showing you the different things he enjoyed doing, you found out ‘The best thing created by humans’, videogames. Needless to say you were hooked to it. The graphics and colors delighted you and you loved how it felt to investigate a whole new world. Being honest there was something about playing videogames that you loved over everything else and that was Caspian’s way to interact with them. You were smitten by the way he expertly and confidently explained every single detail you didn't understand about the game and the way his eyes glimmered when he was concentrated in the game trying to his best ability to win the match. It seemed like another new facet to his character, since he was normally more reserved. When he played his emotions seemed to come forward, the anger when he lost a match or his sadness at the end of a game with a heartbreaking ending.
You two played a lot together and, even though you weren’t really good at the start, you had started to catch a hold of it and you managed to stand your ground. You had even started to play on your own some games, harvesting your own interest in them.
And even though videogames were obviously your favourite thing he had shown you, you held dear the memories of the evenings Caspian had spent showing you other things of this world. Like that time when he had shown you his favourite comics.
-There you go-He said, throwing you one after you had been asking for a long time, inquiring about the books he had in his bedroom.-They’re comics-
-I’ve seen them a couple of times before, they’re full of drawings, right?- You said as you opened the comic skimming through the pages. I heard they make for an interesting way of story telling-Caspian shrugged
-You could say that, I personally like them because of the stories they tell, they explore themes that mainstream media refuses to do-He said sitting down beside you on his bed.-If you want I can lend it to you if you wanna read it. It’s pretty good.-He said half lying down in the bed with his legs dangling over the edge. You hummed in agreement, while you started to read it. After some time in silence Caspian got up and went to sit on the computer while you sat in the bed, immersed in the story.
You had also become a comic fan quite quickly loving the eyecatching drawings and compelling stories.
You also held dear the memory of the days he had taught you how to cook.
You two were wearing aprons and looking at the ingredients before you, your objective was to cook something simple, something that you could cook easily to survive. So you had chosen a bunch of simple recipes to try and had gathered all the ingredients you needed.
At the end of the evening you had ended up with way too much food while you two laid tired on the sofa. Turning in the TV on you chose a show to watch while you ate many of the things you had made. The living room's table was almost full of many kinds of food, which you probably would take a few days to eat.
Cooking evenings eventually became a recurring way to spend your boring evenings. No intention to brag but you two had become quite some chefs thanks to all the times you cooked together.
Bit by bit you managed to build your small safe bubble within this planet. But you had to admit not everything was lovely… The girl from the first day managed to annoy you to death. You followed Caspian's suggestion and just chose to ignore her. But each time it was harder to do so, it seemed she needed to mock and humiliate people as much as she needed to breathe. And over time you had harvested quite some aversion towards her.
Then came the ‘accidents’...
The first ‘accident’ happened on a random day when you were walking towards your next class. It had been a busy week with lots of exams and work and you were heading to the fountain while you went over the last details of the presentation of your project. You had spent quite some time doing it and Caspian was carrying it with all the care in the world while you made sure of having all the flashcards you needed to nail it. As you walked slowly towards the fountain to drink some water before the presentation, she appeared from behind bumping into Caspian, who almost dropped the project, and then went straight to the fountain. Where she turned around watching as you arrived after her. Her smile was smug, knowing you would have to wait until she finished:
-Guess you’ll have to wait until I finish drinking-You breathed slowly, and remember you just had to ignore her but It was hard when she has been drinking for five minutes. And guess what, she didn't seem like she wanted to stop. You shifted uncomfortably and just chose to head directly to class instead. As you left you felt annoyance bubbling up inside your chest as you still heard how the water kept running while she drank.
-I hope it blows up in her face -You murmured tired of having to put up with her every single day. Mere seconds after you made that comment you heard the sounds of something breaking and after that it gave place to the sound of water spraying everywhere. As you both turned around dumbfounded you realized the fountain had broken and now was spraying water all over her while she tried to stop it.
After that first one came a bunch more weird incidents, which made you suspect they were more than mere casualties or perfect timing, there had to be something more about it… About why a balloon exploded in someone's hand just after you had murmured the same thing after they had popped one of their balloons right on your face or why when someone had run off with your bag and you had yelled at him ‘I hope you fall’ they had actually tripped and fallen. By themselves they seemed harmless, cool and fun, but when they happened in fast succession. When every time you whispered you wished something bad happened, it did. When all these ‘incidents’ happened one after the other, luck or casualty seemed to transform into something else, something weirder. Something harder to explain.
You really didn't know what the hell was happening to you but you had chosen you would discover it alongside Caspian.
Luckily, even after the ‘incidents', not all in your life was weird shit that made it seem like you had some kind of psychic power. There were also moments of silence and peace when you and Caspian sat idly in either of your houses having fun. At those times you forgot you were not from this planet and the only thing that mattered were you and him, the now and here where you two were together sat beside each other as you felt an invisible connection between you two grow and pull you together. You felt it in the air and in how you felt nervous in seeing him and how you felt the best when you were together. Those moments were almost magical moments that made you feel so human and at the same time felt so surreal, almost like if it was a dream and you were going to wake up at any moment.
-Do you want to stay the night-You blurted out one day, fidgeting, not really sure how he would take the question. Not even sure why you had asked it. You knew his parents didn’t really like him hanging out with you. To your surprise he hummed in agreement while he took another handful of the popcorn you had prepared. He saw how your face morphed into one of surprise at his answer.
-My parents can't be mad forever because I hang out with you.-He said smirking.-Plus my dad is home.-At this his eyes darkened. He didn’t have to say anything more, even though you’ve only known him for a while it didn’t take a genius to find out that the situation with his father was thorny.
Without much thought, following your heart's need to get closer to him, you laid your head on his shoulder, trying to convey all the things you wanted to tell him in a gesture. You feel him tense up for a second before relaxing as he leaned into you as well.
You had to admit some days were shity, but some were not so shity and there were moments like this that gave sense to everything.
Even if you didn’t even know what you were or where you came from, you were sure of one thing, that you belonged there, with Caspian, dozing off on his shoulder as the sound of the movie became a background sound. And you knew that whatever the hell you were, it didn’t matter, not with him by your side.
gamechangershow
gracieabrams
stormborns
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
vaporwave
ellievsbear
discoholicmusic
origamiaround
pixelskylines
