Hello! I'm not entirely sure if you are or aren't taking requests, the box says closed (and has for a while, I've been checking) but I've seen a few done in the past days? If they are still closed pretty please just forget this ever happened and sorry!
If not though, can request Paratunist? I've never seen the pairing but I've rattled the idea of the two in my brain for a bit...
Hear me out, the two most cautious overthinkers (Skeptic overthinks, but I see it as more speculative instead of protective like Para and Oppy) bonding over feeling like they can't trust anyone and feeling understood by the other on account of their shared doom spiraling. Are they not just both different forms of paranoia in a way?
(Bro you're talking to the person who wrote a whole series about them becoming close and understanding each other on a deep, emotional level, and even without that- MY TWO FAVOURITE VOICES!!!! YAAAAYYYY!!! THE TWO OF THEM HAVE SUCH A SIMILAR MINDSET BUT GO ABOUT IT IN DIFFERENT WAYS!! YOU GET IT!! THEY CAN BE SUCH A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!! ENJOY!)
"Para? C'mon, it's okay. You can come out."
Opportunist pressed his back against the wall and strained to hear anything further, but it seemed like Paranoid was done talking.
There was a moment of silence, and then a heavy sigh as Hero walked away from Paranoid's bedroom door.
Opportunist waited until Hero was long gone, before peeking out around the corner, checking to make sure that the coast was clear, and then he walked out.
Paranoid hadn't come out of his room all day, and he heard snippets from others that he was having a really bad day, one where his anxiety made him question everything and shut himself away from the flock.
Hero's tried everything to get the poor guy to come out, but he just wouldn't budge. Others have come and gone, attempting to lure him out with sweet words and alluring gifts, but it was all pointless.
Which was why he, the thoughtful Opportunist, was going to take a stab at it. After all, Paranoid's done so much for the flock, so it was only right for Opportunist to return the favour.
He walked up to the door, a dazzling smile locked and loaded. He didn't bother knocking, instead taking out the bobby pin that he had brought, jamming it into the lock and quickly picking it.
"Who's out there?" Paranoid called out, but Opportunist just hummed, only needing a few seconds before he heard that delightful click of a door unlocking.
He opened it with a graceful swing, making Paranoid yelp and jump from on his bed. Opportunist met his heated glare with a confident smile.
"What are you doing in my room?" Paranoid demanded, feathers sticking out and looking even more frazzled than usual, like Paranoid was on the verge of a breakdown.
He know it seems like that must be normal for Paranoid, but the dark and glassy look in his eyes proved that he was having a worse time than usual.
Opportunist shut the door behind him quietly. "Well, I heard that you weren't doing too well, and I wanted to come in and check on you."
Paranoid's glare got more intense. "By breaking into my room?"
Opportunist waved him away, striding over to the bed, not missing how Paranoid tensed up and wrapped a blanket around himself.
"That doesn't matter right now. What matters is you." He sat on the edge of the bed, making sure to appear as friendly as possible. He placed a hand on the mattress between them, and Paranoid's eyes darted down to it.
"Why would you care about me?" Paranoid asked, his glare never lessening.
Opportunist never lowered his smile as he said, "Why wouldn't I care about our most capable flock member?"
Paranoid rolled his eyes with a scoff. "I don't believe you."
"You rarely do." Opportunist shuffled further onto the bed, getting himself comfortable. Meanwhile, Paranoid flinched and scooted away from Opportunist.
They sat there in an uncomfortable silence, but Opportunist never stopped smiling and pretending to be the friendly and concerned flockmate that Paranoid needed.
Well, not all of him was pretending to be concerned, but Paranoid didn't need to know that.
"I just-" Paranoid began, looking down at his lap, fingers digging into the blanket. "My mind won't let me relax. It keeps telling me not to trust anybody, that they're all trying to trick and deceive me by acting nice to me."
Finally, Paranoid's glare went away, and all that was left in his eyes was a tired sorrow.
"I don't like it," Paranoid whispered with a trembling voice. "I don't like thinking this way about the flock."
But then, just as quick as the anger disappeared, it came back, and Paranoid snapped his head around to glare at Opportunist. "You're not helping with that either."
Opportunist shrugged. "Well, if you're talking to me about it, then I have to be doing something right."
"You picked the lock and waltzed in here like you owned the place!"
"Doesn't mean I'm not helping you."
"Why do you even care?" Paranoid asked, and although he still sounded upset, Opportunist could see that the trembling in the other's voice had cleared out.
Opportunist sighed, and scooted closer. Paranoid inched away.
"I care because you're one of the few birdies that can get the others line," Opportunist confessed. He glanced at Paranoid with a quirk of his lips as he added, "Even if you're a bit jittery."
His smile softened into something less fake, more small and vulnerable. "I can understand you."
"You can?" Paranoid quietly asked.
"Yes," Opportunist replied softly, looking down and running a hand through his feathers. "You know what it's like to be scared, and to act on it. You can't trust anyone because of your fear, and that's what I trust about you."
Paranoid's shoulders lowered, and he tilted his head in curiosity. "You like that I can't trust the others?"
"Well, yeah," Opportunist said casually. "It's actually a comfort to see someone not trust everything around them. People like Hero and Smitten and even Broken are too soft, too kind- you don't know what they're planning."
Opportunist looked at him again and nodded. "That's why you didn't open the door to Hero, right? You didn't believe him when he said everything was okay."
Paranoid's eyes widened, and then his feathers puffed up in guilt as he quickly avoided Opportunist's knowing gaze.
Opportunist chuckled. "It's alright, my friend. Frankly, that just means you're not an idiot, unlike some of the others."
He decided to risk it, and move another bit closer.
To his surprise, Paranoid didn't back away.
"I never have to guess what you're thinking," Opportunist softly said. "I know you're afraid of everything, I know there's no exception to your distrust, and I like that about you."
"I guess," Paranoid spoke up, "it is kind of nice to know that you're just as afraid and as distrusting as I am."
"Exactly!" Opportunist said. "We both know we can't trust the other, so we don't have to worry about what the other will do. We know each other's nature, and that's comforting."
Paranoid hummed in thought, and then everything was quiet again, but it felt much less tense this time, and Paranoid even looked less scared as well.
Then, to his surprise, Opportunist felt a head resting on his shoulder.
"That-does make me feel better, in a weird way," Paranoid mumbled sheepishly, and Opportunist had to pretend that his heart wasn't overjoyed at the words or the physical contact.
Even though he had just went on about not being caught off guard by Paranoid's way of thinking, he was hesitant to say anything that would ruin the moment.
So they just sat there in peaceful silence.
