hehe hiii

jesper fahey who knows this, and will sit through every single thunderstorm with wylan in his arms as the two of them watch the rain from the open back door, sitting on the doorsteps. and he rubs wylans arms and keep his head firmly against wylan's curls, and kisses him every time the thunder makes him jump, who comments on the intensity and the flashes of the lightening, who engages in conversations with wylan about the storm in order to make it feel less scary, who listens to wylan talk quietly about the electricity and his fansination of storms

https://archiveofourown.org/works/88362141/chapters/234348681

Follow some more adventures and trails of the Duchene - Matienne children after they are adopted and settled in with Leo and Gloria.

tagged by @tarosek but the post was too long so I've made the executive decision to start a new chain 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ (og by @applemelodies)

1. top five movies? ahhhh I hate these kinds of questions ummm. project hail mary, the princess bride, how to train your dragon, legally blonde, spiderman no way home. I guess

2. one character that describes you? lowkey. Probably Peter Parker. Peter Parker, Michael Mell, Natalie Goodman, Pearl Moon; you slam all those together and you've got something resembling me

3. favorite song at the moment? lowkey. Wish I Were Here from N2N. Hey #1 is a close runner up tho (all the Hey #s are let's be honest)

4. all time favorite album? ALL TIME??? freakin. idk man. the how to train your dragon soundtrack

5. favorite fruit? I'm sure it will surprise no one that the answer. is grapes

6. favorite time of day? ummmm nighttime probably :]

top five movies?

like EVER? oh wow i don’t know if i can pick just five hmmm. let’s see. princess bride, rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles the movie, sonic the hedgehog 1, steel magnolias, and b.r.a.t. patrol (does the next to normal west end proshot count)

one character that describes you?

maybe this is because i’ve been writing a lot of him recently, but probably gabe goodman (n2n). in particular his constant need for contact and how terrified he is of being left behind and abandoned. if not him than moritz stiefel (spaw) because of the “what would happen if i failed” scene between him and his father

favorite song at the moment?

either aftershocks (n2n), song for the countryside (tupohf), or and then there were none (spaw)

all time favorite album?

this is just like the movie question. i’m extremely indecisive there’s no way you expect me to answer this well. i’d probably go with the hadestown west end cast recording because the musical itself already holds a lot of sentimental value to me and the west end cast had me sobbing tbh

favorite fruit?

peaches <3333333333

favorite time of day?

really really early morning, just after midnight when everything is quieter. probably because i feel like i have the house to myself and i usually am the most inspired around then. my sleep schedule is deep fried because of that lmao

imagining wylan, nearly choking on the tannery fumes, thinking he’ll be reunited with his mother soon.

imagining wylan, fighting his first dangerous fight, thinking he’ll be reunited with his mother soon.

“Wylan tugged at the hem of his sky-blue jacket… and tried to look at ease.”

“All he had to do was… figure out what to do with his hands. Clasp them in front? Too much like a singer at a recital. In back? Too military. He tried just dangling them at his sides, but that didn’t feel right either. Why hadn’t he paid better attention to the way waiters stood?”

“His hands were shaking as he took the bottle from the silver ice bucket…”

“So Wylan took stock of the room’s details - a trick he’d often used to steady himself whenever he arrived someplace new…”

“Wylan knew he couldn’t have prevented his father from double-crossing the crew and kidnapping her. He knew that, but he still felt responsible.”

“‘Oysters, miss?’ Wylan asked. His voice sounded too high. ‘Buttered prawns?’ Too low.”

“What am I doing here? He found himself gnawing on his thumb and forced himself to stop.”

…Kaz never yelled the way Wylan’s father did but, Wylan had learned to listen for that low note, that bit of black harmony…”

“...Wylan said, fiddling with a pen on one of the blotters.”

“Wylan tugged the strap of his satchel… Wylan tugged on the satchel strap again.

“Wylan was gnawing on his thumbnail.”

“‘Will he?’ Wylan said softly. He used his finger to draw a line across the map of Ketterdam…”

“Wylan pulled on his lip.”

“‘Don’t you think we should be more cautious?’ Wylan asked, his own face buried in the collar of his coat.”

“Wylan tried to make himself relax and unbuttoned the roughspun coat Kaz had obtained for him.”

“‘Come here.’ Warily, Wylan sidled closer.”

“Jesper released a guffaw that had Wylan looking frantically over his shoulder again, afraid of drawing attention.”

“Wylan tugged at a thread unraveling from the sleeve of his coat.”

“Jan Van Eck had done his best to care for his son, and if he’d failed, then the defect lay with Wylan… and everything he said made perfect sense. Wylan could not be trusted with a fortune because he would be too easily swindled. Wylan could not go to university because he’d be the target of mockery.”

“His father’s ire had been unpleasant, but it was his logic that haunted Wylan- that practical, irrefutable voice that spoke in Wylan’s head whenever he thought about attempting something new, or trying to learn to read again. ”

“Wylan felt ridiculously pleased - until he thought about Kaz finding out. Then he felt a little like the first time he’d tried brandy and ended up spewing his dinner all over his own shoes.”

“Wylan waited, nervous.”

“Wylan looked down at the bouquet. It seemed smaller and more straggly than he thought.”

“... on it sat a vase of the wisteria Wylan had seen outside. He inhaled deeply. The smell was comforting.”

“He set the wildflowers down on the desk. Their stems were broken. He’d been clutching them too tightly.”

“Wylan leaned over his shoulder and felt a hopeless, choking panic grip him… he fought for breath. ‘Jesper, please,’ he begged, his voice thin and reedy. ‘Read it to me.’”

“Jesper pulled him into the chair behind the desk and pressed against Wylan’s shoulder blades, urging him forward. ‘Put your head between your knees, focus on the floor. Breathe.’”

“Wylan forced himself to inhale, exhale, to gaze at those charming blue tulips in their white tile boxes.”

“Wylan took a deep, shuddering breath through his nose. He couldn’t fathom what was happening, couldn’t understand the scope of it.”

“So just do one thing at a time. It was a technique one of his tutors had taught him to try and keep him from getting overwhelmed by the page… Wylan had managed to apply it elsewhere”

“One thing at a time. Stand up. He stood up. You’re fine. ‘I’m fine.’”

“‘We’ll be fine here,’ Wylan managed in a voice that sounded too loud and too hearty to his ears.”

“Wylan studied his mother, his thoughts a jangle of misplayed chords.”

“He’d planned to play it beside her grave like some kind of idiot.”

“Wylan didn’t register the walk down the drive…”

“He hated that Jesper was seeing him cry, but there was nothing he could do, not about the tears, not about any of it. He buried his face in his arms, covering his head as if, were he to only will it strongly enough, he could vanish.”

“‘You don’t understand. It was me. I caused this.’”

“Because through all of it, he’d believed that he deserved his father’s contempt…”

“Wylan wanted to be brave, but he was cold and bruised…”

“Wylan had stayed inside for two days, terrified.”

“His second was that his father had sent someone new to kill him. He gripped his paddle.”

“All Wylan wanted to do was stand as close as he possibly could to him and know that he was safe.”

“‘Kaz,’ Wylan said, twisting the tail of his shirt.”

“Wylan nodded, anxiously. ‘I’d like that.’”

“‘I don’t know why I’m so nervous,’ said Wylan.”

“He’d clenched his hands so tightly in his lap his knuckles had become white stars.”

“‘I can’t read.’ His skin went instantly blotchy, but his voice was steady.”

“Jesper could see the anxiety in his face, what it cost him to speak those words. It made him feel like a coward.”

“Wylan fiddled nervously with the buttons on his shirt.”

“‘It felt like I’d choke on the words. I was so afraid he’d sneer at me. Or just laugh.’”

“... in the afternoons he’d spent sitting in the pantry or curled into a window seat behind a curtain, hoping that everyone would forget him…”

“Wylan drew a line on the floor with his finger.”

“Wylan’s heart stuttered. Sound it out, Wylan. A child half your age can read this without trying. He’d thought he was ready for this.”

“Wylan hesitated. ‘You can go if you need to.’”

“This was the nightmare he’d had countless times as a child - standing in public, his deficiencies exposed.”

“Wylan tried to smile, but Jesper could see he was all nerves.”

“‘I feel like an intruder. Like any minute, my father’s going to barge through that door and tell me to get out.’”

kaz would somehow piss inej off and jesper would sound out a “wah-wah-wah” trombone note thing and kaz would seriously consider murdering him right then and there.

he would also make the sound when wylan accidentally set off a harmless but messy explosion right into his own face , when matthias had a bad hair day, and when nina had somehow head-butted inej when going in for a hug

wylan van textpost