#matthew oc

[c0nmvn]

been projecting my ocs onto su given these last eps so fuck here

[goosygander]

... A girl’s gotta stay awake on the job somehow. :’D

2016, scrap paper art

[r0yallypurple]

An older oc, Matthew c:!

[acrylicqueen]

[indecentpause]

@reeseweston

Gladly! Firstly, here is his tag with some short stories and word of the day ficlets!

Now as to how he ended up homeless in the first place: he’s a trans boy, and his parents didn’t get it but were like ‘whatever I guess,’ but his dad’s family were huge dicks about it. The marriage wasn’t that strong, so his family convinced him to leave Matthew and his mum. He was young, maybe 12 or 13, at the time, and his mum did try very hard at first, but it was a much harder life than anything she’d been used to (she was basically raised to be a housewife and stay at home mum, so suddenly having to work was not her favorite thing) and she eventually grew to resent Matthew as the source of her financial problems.

One day, when Matthew was almost 14 she left for work and just didn’t. Come back. He stayed in the flat as long as he could before the landlord kicked ‘them’ out. Matthew sold whatever he could to cover the cost of things like food and winter clothes, because winter was coming up.

He was in and out of short term shelters and on the streets, homeless, for about a year, until a queerplatonic triad, each about ten years Matthew’s senior, give or take, came across him outside one of the coffee shops they frequent, which you can read here.

They invited him to stay with them for a while and got him set up with a job and some nicer clothes and a phone. Initially it was supposed to be temporary, until he could find his own space, but they all got along so well and Matthew was really thriving with them. Then he brought a stray cat home that he found in the garbage, and that was that. They made the situation permanent and Matthew became their son/weird cousin/vaguely family-esque live in flatmate!

And now the adventures can truly begin! :D

[indecentpause]

ALLRIGHTY @infinitelyblankpage asked for two different prompts. Here is one of them!

2. “I know it’s 3 in the morning, but I can’t find my cat”

Matthew slowly scoured the living room for his cat Rubbish Bin in the dark, with only the flashlight on his cell phone to guide him. She was a black cat, so she could be hiding anywhere in the shadows, but no matter how many times he called her name or how many kissy noises he made, she wasn’t coming out. His heart thumped heavy in his chest. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen her since Austin got home from work. Had she slipped out?

The very thought tightened his chest like a vise on his heart and brought tears to his eyes.

“Rubbish Bin?” he called again, a little more panicked, as he shone the flashlight around the room, into the corners, under the sofa. Maybe she’d snuck into the bedroom with Austin and the others?

The door was left open a crack. Matthew slowly opened it, and squinted inside the dim room. At least they had an old lava lamp, so there was a little light.

“Rubbish Bin?”

A soft meow. But it was the wrong meow. That was Baxter. Not his sweet baby.

Matthew got down on his knees and peered under the bed and all the furniture. No Rubbish Bin. He’d checked the bathroom, but maybe he should check again?

A socked foot gently thumped against his leg.

“Matthew?” Sara. “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” he choked out. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“Hey, are you okay?”

He came out from under the bed and curled up into himself, tears welling in his eyes.

“Hey!” Sara said gently. She scooted down to the floor to sit beside him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find Rubbish Bin,” he sniffled. “She didn’t come to lie down with me and I know it’s 3:00 in the morning but I can’t find her and what if she got out?”

Sara stood and offered her hand. “Come with me,” she said.

Matthew followed her out into the living room and stood by the couch while she collected the old shipping box Rubbish Bin liked to take naps in, her favorite blanket, and her favorite toy.

“We’ll put these and some water in front of the door,” Sara said. “If she’s out there, she’ll be back by morning. And if not, she was here all along, and won’t that be a relief!”

Matthew rubbed at his nose with the back of his arm and nodded. Sara set everything up outside the door and then drew him into a hug.

“I promise this will work,” she said, gently petting his hair in an attempt to calm him down. “When Donut went missing last year, we did this and he was back within the hour. But I understand if you can’t sleep. Check every thirty minutes, if that feels better.”

Matthew buried his face in Sara’s shoulder and she hugged him even closer. She gave good hugs. Mum hugs. The kind of hugs that could fix almost anything.

“Okay,” he whispered. “If you say.”

“Just wait,” Sara said. “Like I said, she’ll be back by morning.”

[indecentpause]

I think Matthew is going to keep the cat he found in the rubbish bin. Kris and the others are suckers for animals, and she seems to get along with their cats well enough once they introduce her (after she goes to the vet and gets her shots and a clean bill of health).

Matthew names her Rubbish Bin, both because of where he found her and because she will eat ANYTHING. (And yes also because of that one adorable cat that goes around on Tumblr every couple months named Trashbag, but he’s unaware of it because he hasn’t had internet until recently.)

[indecentpause]

definitions for lenity:

the quality or state of being mild or gentle, as toward others.

a lenient act.

Matthew was on his way home, back to his little space on the couch at Kris’s place, where Matthew was living until he could save up enough money to get his own place.

He paused when he heard a soft, scared, “Mew!” But there was no cat around that he could see.

“Mew!” it cried again.

Matthew’s eyes darted around as he tried to find the animal, but all there was was a rubbish bin --

Oh, no!

He rushed toward the rubbish bin, pulling at the top piece to see if it could be disconnected, but it was welded to the rest of it. So Matthew leaned down to see if he could see into the small space where people threw their rubbish. There was movement.

“Hey, hey little guy!” he whispered, trying to calm the poor thing down. “Or, uh, or girl. You’re gonna be all right. I’m going to get you out of there.”

Matthew backed up a bit and shoved his arm in as far as it could without getting stuck and felt around. He was fully expecting to get scratched or bitten, and he sort of did -- the cat grabbed onto his hand, climbed up his arm, and curled up behind his neck. It was tiny, probably a kitten, and it was shivering even though it was a warm day.

Kris and his partners were all vegans, and cats needed meat. This poor cat was all bones and matted fur. Would they even let him bring in a stray? They had two cats of their own to care for. Would they let him take some of the cat food? Maybe they’d let him keep it in the bathroom overnight while he looked up no-kill shelters. Austin had a car. Maybe he’d be willing to drive them if it was far away.

Matthew carefully felt around the cat on the back of his neck until he found its scruff, then lifted it up so he could straighten his back. He put the cat on his shoulder and said, “Come on, little friend, let’s find you some food.”

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