#pcc2 fic

the parent's guide to the young conduit @noisesfrombeyondtheuniverse @nonbinary-octopus

"Sometimes I just want to be blunt with her, just- It’s not your fault you were being bullied, Lydia. But I’m not sure that would help.”

“And you think learning more about ghosts will?”

“Yes. Yes I think it will,” Charles says. He’s been hesitant around decisive decisions concerning Lydia lately - he went back and forth on the school move a hundred times before he ever mentioned it to her - but he’s doing his best to be certain now.

“Then of course I’ll learn to do an exorcism with you.”

it's not me @zyrafowe-sny @somefishycat @whimsicalmeerkat @auburnlaughter @asha10100101010

He looks like he’s going to elaborate, but he doesn’t. Nimona furrows her brow.

“What?”

“I’m not sure if it would be too much.”

“Just spit it out, Boss. I can’t deal with being out of the loop right now.”

He nods. “Right, yeah, that makes sense.” He pauses again, and then continues slowly, choosing his words carefully. “Nimona, am I right in thinking the rabies symptoms are… interacting with your trauma responses?”

Nimona squints. The hand on her forehead moves up to comb through her hair. After a few moments, she pulls her other hand away from Ballister’s to join it.

“I don’t- maybe? But it’s not just- History repeats, Ballister. Things happen over and over.”

He doesn’t reply for a long moment. Probably just shocked that she used his actual name.

from the back of a blood red mare @phantom-z0ne @kallisto-k @thefandomlesbian @oriharaizayadividesintoslytherin

“That puts a real hitch in the plan…”

“That’s what I thought!”

“We can’t confront her in front of them, and if I try to go out there and speak to Ambrosius I’m sure she’ll find some way to make me look worse.”

“So you need ‘em alone? I can do that, just lemme know which one you want first.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hey, why?”

“The look on your face kid. Don’t trust it as far as I could throw you.”

“That doesn’t really mean anything, I’m sure you could throw me pretty far if-”

She’s cut off by the sound of the bell over the door, and whips her head around to look. And of course, it’s him. Standing there with his infuriatingly neat hair.

the book in the birdbath @dreamed-for-not @twyrewolf @tamsinswriting @combeferres-mothematics

Skye giggles, but doesn’t say anything in reply. For a long few moments the two of them just lay side by side in the quiet and look up at the ceiling tiles.

“...I think he really cares about you,” Skye says after a while.

“Huh?”

“Your dad. The stuff I overhear, I think he cares about you a lot. My parents are overprotective sometimes and sometimes it gets on my nerves but it’s only because they care a lot. It’s not their fault.”

Lydia continues to stare at the ceiling, thinking. Maybe it’s because of the late hour, maybe because she’s already told this kid so much, but either way when the thought comes to her she admits, “I wish he’d say it more.”

“Huh?”

“My dad. I just… I wish he’d outright say that kinda thing, the ‘I love you’ type stuff. He did start saying it more while I was in the coma, but… Y’know.”

so has the gospel @eriquin @akumteir

“Oh, um- Okay.”

It shuffles closer and they arrange themselves into a circle, Clémentine listening intently to Kingsley’s instructions; “It’s clap, right, clap, left, shoulders, elbows, rock the baby - you’ll pick it up.”

It takes them a little while to get into a rhythm, with the four of them. That just makes it a better distraction. And so too does the continued lyric debate.

In Case of Emergency, Break Glass (4/6) @whimsicalmeerkat @aparticularbandit @combeferres-mothematics @tamsinswriting

A ghost they didn’t even want to try to force her to capture.

She can’t shake the sickening feeling that it’s her mother.

It’s a possibility that’s haunted her since she learnt what Juno and Otho were really doing. What if, before they took Lydia, they captured her mum? Squashed her down and locked her in a jar to keep in the basement? And now, what if she’s evaded capture the last three years only to be taken now? Her hands tremble as she sets the jar on the table. Otho is pulling on his gloves.

“Otho?” she asks quietly. “Please?”

“Mouth shut, Lydia,” Juno snaps.

Otho slips a hand through the hatch in the soul box and lifts out a dazed, miniature rabbit. And then he puts his other hand in, and pulls out a mouse. It takes Lydia a moment to understand it. Two ghosts at once, and they didn’t even try getting her to catch them.

“Is that- Barbara! ADAM!”

She tries to lunge towards Otho as he drops them into the jar. Juno catches her by the hair.

“You wanted to see, Lydia, and you saw.”

Bugebroph @dreamed-for-not @eriquin

 She can already see Adam cracking.

“Well… If we can’t do it ourselves…”

“You’re sure you can do this carefully?”

Lydia nods enthusiastically.

“She won’t harm a hair on their heads,” Beetlejuice confirms. “Hell, you can sit in on it if you want. They aren’t gonna see you, evidently.”

bj/nimona crossover woo @twyrewolf @zyrafowe-sny

It occurs to her that it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that Nimona is just as interested in the only person her age as she is, but years of school canteens have taught Lydia otherwise. Nimona flashes her another grin, but is quickly distracted by her fork.

“Nim,” Ballister whispers again. “Don’t chew that.”

“I’m being gentle.”

“That’s not-”

He’s dragged back into the adults’ conversation before he can finish his point.

The Parent's Guide to the Young Conduit @kalira @noisesfrombeyondtheuniverse @tamsinswriting @meggiejolly @stonemaskedtaliesin

“I suppose that makes sense… Adam, did you catch that?”

Adam falters in his latest attempt to posses Delia’s arm. “Catch what?”

“Lydia doesn’t know we’re doing this.”

“Oh. Well, if I’m being honest, we’re currently not doing too much for her to know about.”

“Delia, dear, does your arm feel at all possessed?” Charles asks. Delia flexes the arm experimentally.

“Not particularly.”

Barbara rests her chin on her hand. “May I have a go?”

“Be my guest.”

Adam steps back, and Barbara steps forward. She takes a deep breath - not for any need for oxygen, but just to steady herself. Raises an arm.

Be Right Back @auburnlaughter @tamsinswriting

She’s sure Ballister can tell, when he asks if that’s okay with her, that her acceptance is begrudging. “I’m still going to be sleeping here,” he says. “I’ll be coming right back here after work. It’s just that Ambrosius can do some parts of his job remotely, and I can’t.”

“What, they haven’t invented remote controls for horses yet?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Bummer.”

Ten Paces @zyrafowe-sny @dreamed-for-not @tamsinswriting

Lydia stays in her little shelter for hours. There’s no point going out and pacing, the ropes will trip her up the moment she stops focusing on them. So instead she lays on the thin bed of straw and slowly picks at bone marrow. Her body still aches from all the running in circles the day before. The rope itches.

It’s sometime around noon when the rain starts.

It’s just a drizzle, to begin with. A light patter outside, the occasional drip through the gaps in the roof. Lydia doesn’t react much more than shuffling further back from the door and grumbling to herself. But it only gets worse. The noise gets louder. The air gets colder.

Netherborne ch17 on @dreamed-for-not @twyrewolf @eriquin

“Right,” Beetlejuice says, clearly eager to move on, “now that’s out of the way. We’ve got other shit to figure out.”

“Other shit like what?”

“Other shit like how you’re gonna insist on coming with me when Rigel introduces me to Maxie Dean, aren’t you?”

(omitted chunk I’d already written)

“We can do that.”

He reaches into his jacket and pulls out the same notepad he wrote the house rules on. Rules for social events, he titles the page. And just like the house rules, he divides it into columns and labels each with a name.

“So. You gotta call everyone ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’,” he says as he writes.

In Case of Emergency, Break Glass (11/6) @dreamed-for-not @auburnlaughter @kalira @tamsinswriting

“Aw, what’s wrong? Was the nasty lady mean to you again? Poor little wizard.”

Lydia grips her oversized sleeves tight. She wants to bite back at him, tell him exactly what Juno just did, but she knows he doesn’t actually care. It would only lead to more mockery.

“Shut up, jar boy,” she says instead.

“Oh, you really got me with that one. I’m wounded.”

“You wanna be shaken again.”

“You’re not scary, kid.”

Lydia glares at him for a long moment, and then looks away. It’s an empty threat, really. Her shoulders hurt too much. She hears quiet tapping on the glass as he paces about his jar.

“...So. What was all that with Otho?”

The Book in the Birdbath @dreamed-for-not @kalira @tamsinswriting @meggiejolly @whimsicalmeerkat

Before he has time for further thoughts on that, Skye is clambering onto the bench beside Lydia. She sticks out one small hand, the other twisting in her hair.

“Hello Mr. Deetz, it’s nice to meet you!”

Lydia can tell her dad wasn’t expecting that, but he readily accepts the handshake. “It’s good to meet you too, Skye.”

“We’re neighbours on the ward,” Lydia explains. “Skye’s in the next bed over.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I have a congenital heart disease!” Skye eagerly adds. Lydia’s dad’s eyebrows raise slightly.

“Right. And you and Lydia have been… hanging out?”

“Yeah! We go for walks in the garden and we talk about ghosts and we do our schoolwork together!”

The Running Iron @dreamed-for-not @stonemaskedtaliesin

Oscar’s hand hammers against the wall. She groans, hiding her head in her folded arms.

“Come on, get up! We’ve got a railway to build!”

“You’ve got a railway to build,” Lydia grumbles. “I still don’t see why that’s my problem.”

“Less complaining, more eating. I want you up and harnessed by the time I come back.”

sidekick ettiquete @catboy-jupiter @eriquin @oriharaizayadividesintoslytherin @sourb0i @laneboyheathens @stonemaskedtaliesin @whimsicalmeerkat

Nimona headbuts him in the temple. The two men step out into a small hallway.

Ambrosius rings the doorbell.

Ballister can feel his heart beating in his throat as they’re ushered in by a maid. He sees the look the woman gives the wolverine on his shoulder. Sees her noting the bowtie. But then Ambrosius is greeting her warmly, and the attention is off him and his sidekick for a long enough moment to catch his breath. So when he’s briefly introduced to Amanda, he’s able to smile and shake her hand and not get caught up on the way she seems to avoid Nimona’s eye. He tries not to focus on her weight on his shoulder as they make their way through to the living room.

Immediately, Ambrosius is wrapped up in a hug from his mother, caught up in greetings again, and this time it’s his father who’s staring past Ballister’s face. He feels Nimona tense, bristle slightly, and only then does it occur to him that in this position he can’t see her face.

“Dad,” Ambrosius greets the man - with a noticeably briefer hug - before returning to 

Ballister’s side. “Mum, Dad, you’ve met Ballister. And this is his sidekick Nimona, of course.”

There’s a flash of light in the corner of Ballister’s eye, and a sudden lightness on his shoulder. For a moment he thinks maybe she’s going for her human form for the introductions, but of course she’s not. There’s now a pink wolf with a bowtie sat at his side.

“Ballister. I look forward to becoming better acquainted,” Sir Goldenloin Senior says as he shakes Ballister’s hand.

“Likewise. It’s an honour.”

His eyes lock again onto Nimona. His hand shifts, almost offering a handshake to the wolf too before reconsidering.

from the back of a blood red mare @somefishycat

And though it goes against every rational thought in his brain, he slowly pulls it away from the wound. The kid twirls the knife casually between her fingers before lunging for her own thigh. Ballister hurriedly looks away.

the parent's guide to the young conduit @tamsinswriting @auburnlaughter @asha10100101010 @kidsomeday

“Oh, that’s fantastic!”

“Beetlejuice gave it to me.”

“...Okay!”

“I know it’s… questionable, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s more likely he wants something from me than he’s trying to harm Lydia. I’m honestly starting to think they have some sort of pact.”

He pauses, and then flicks back to the contents page to check if the book has a chapter on demonic contracts.

“She’s certainly talks more positively about him than you’d expect, given she stabbed him,” Delia muses. “Especially when you consider her baseline level of positivity is so low.”

“Well, I think maybe it could be raised a bit if I knew more about this sort of thing. If… she thought I was more equipped to care for her.”

“You think she’s insecure about that?”

Charles sighs. “It’s just something Beetlejuice said when he gave me the book. He… he made it sound like she thinks she’s a burden.”

be right back @zyrafowe-sny

“There’s been accusations of rewriting history, even Institute conspiracy…”

“An Institute conspiracy to discredit the Institute’s favourite myth?”

“People want reasons to stick with what they know."

nimona centaur au @twyrewolf @aparticularbandit

“This place is crawling with adult supervision. And you can’t even do the ‘just confidently walk out’ trick because they were all here as foals too, and they know the rules haven’t changed because everyone here has a fetish for tradition.”

Boldheart snorts. “I’m not sure I’d phrase it like that, but I won’t say you’re wrong.”

Nimona cocks her head. “And you don’t have a problem with that?”

wrapped up my uni project today so i can finally get properly stuck into the massive wip wednesday backlog ive been building up lets fuckin go

“You still want me to walk you in?” Charles asks. He can’t pretend he understands teens perfectly, but he’s pretty sure your dad walking you to school at fifteen is ‘uncool’, and - for want of a kinder way of putting it - his daughter is not exactly at an advantage when it comes to being accepted by her peers. But she nods, and he doesn’t question further.

Ten minutes later, Lydia slings her schoolbag over her shoulder and the two set out. The school transfer has actually shortened her commute, to within walking distance now. Could be biking distance too, he’d suggested, and he’s perhaps unreasonably chuffed by the fact that she actually seems to be considering it. Charles spends the walk listening to Lydia talk about her latest favourite film. He’s not as good at really engaging with these things as Emily was, at least not yet, but he’s realised that a lot of the time his kid just wants an audience. He’s happy to be that for her.

They get to the school a little ahead of the majority of students, as planned. Charles walks his daughter to the reception entrance, his hand resting gently on her back as they step into the building. It seems to go very fast after that, Lydia’s been given a timetable and a laminated map and introduced to the teaching assistant who's going to help her find her locker, and he has to say goodbye.

🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁

woe 20 wips upon ye

Either book in the birdbath or whatever the sequal name is for parent creature.

Lydia looks to Skye for an explanation, and thankfully she readily launches into one. “We met here before one time when Daisy was getting her ear implants and now she’s back for her appendix. So we’re hospital buddies!”

“Right…”

“You’re Lydia, right?”

Lydia is almost startled out of her seat by the voice at her shoulder, back on Issac’s side of her. This guy she recognises - he’s the twelve-ish year old in the bed opposite her on the ward. That’s about all she’s got on him currently, but how close he’s standing is definitely not helping his case. Wheelchair or not, a twelve-year-old should not be allowed to be that much taller than her.

“Are any of you aware of the idea of personal space,” she asks as she rolls forward, “or do they not teach that in kindergarten anymore?”

===

Charles regards the cover with suspicion. There’s no author’s name, just the title and an illustration of what seems to be a young girl holding a seance for her teddy bears. But as… insensitive as Beetlejuice’s presentation may be, it’s hard to deny that a bit of guidance isn’t tempting.

“Are you sure this is from a reliable source?”

“‘Course I am, me an’ Lyds have got enough parental issues going around without me feeding you shit advice. That’s a Netherworld press official, that is.”