#poly!lostboys

The cheerful voices were echoing around the cave. Words of encouragement turned into loud exclamations of ‚hell yeah!‘ and ‚you did it‘. And in the middle of all that a little bat sitting on a beaten old sofa could be found. A bit confused but otherwise perfectly content for the moment.

„Whoa. You are really tiny, you know that?"

„You are one to talk," laughed out loud Paul and received a proper smack to the head in return.

The boys sans David gathered around the tiny creature. They tried to teach their new little sister how to turn into her bat form and after weeks of trying she finally managed to do just that. Now the fun can officially begin.

Betty was a little lost. Even though it wasn’t the right word now, was it? Once she changed a lot of things stopped to make sense. That just happens when suddenly your brain shrinks into a size of a pea. Instincts take over and personality takes the backseat. She just knew she was surrounded by her pack and that was enough to make her squeak happily.

She hopped on clumsy feet to the closest boy which happened to be Dwayne. He sat down on the rough floor and extended his hand towards the tiny vampire. Betty had some issues to climb into the warm palm of her brother but after some trial and error she was able to drag herself into it’s warmth. There was more than enough room for the teeny body. She chirped in delight when a giant thumb begin to stroke her back. Oh, what bliss. She could fall asleep like that.

„This is so cute," smiled Marko. „It should be illegal."

„Yeow!" exclaimed Paul and with a jump he turned into a bat. He plopped down onto the counch and with a loud scream he marched towards Betty. She peeked from behind Dwayne’s fingers. Curiosity shining in her eyes as she met the blonde bat in all his furry glory. Paul thunked the top of her head with his snout, all chaotic energy, while Betty was a bit overwhelmed and just let him to sniff and lick little kisses into her fur. It wasn’t so bad. After a bit of recuperation she actually began to nip back at him. She could hear someone laughing from the other side of the cave but was too busy chirping at the blonde bat. In the end, she was in the warm palm of a gentle giant while Paul was stuck on the ratty old sofa so who’s the winner here, huh?

She yowled when another bat landed on the cushion nearby. This time with golden curly fur. He was smaller than Paul but definitely bigger than her. Squealing in delight she hopped from the palm and barreled towards the newcomer, ignoring Paul’s whining. But suddenly she stopped. He was on a cushion. Up there. Looking down at her. How was she supposed to get up there? Betty whined sadly, her little head lowering in defeat before she perked up again. She back up a little bit, no one commented on the fact that her claws got stuck in the fabric twice, and awkwardly run to Marko. With a jump she hit the edge of the cushion and fell down with her little feet sticking high in the air.

The whole cave shook with laughter. Even David didn’t hold back this time. He snuffed out his cig, rose from his throne and made his way to the rest of his pack. In the meantime Dwayne helped Betty to turn over. She had some difficulties to roll onto her feet. If she was in her human form right now she would blame her struggles on having different core balance as an animal and it had nothing to do with her soft round tummy being in the way.  

David sat of the table across from the couch, arms resting on his knees and watched on as Paul nudged the tiny bat with his snout in supportive manner. Try again little sister. Marko was perched on top of the cushion with his butt neurotically shaking. He was having so much fun. He really wanted to go down and tackle Betty under him – playfully, of course – but watching her frustration as she was trying to get to him was just too entertaining.

Betty, however, had enough. She looked at the cushion, up at Marko and down again at the offending piece of fabric. With no remorse, she started shrieking at the pile, nipping at the tattered cloth and scream some more. One could even call it barking if it didn’t break the laws of sound, that’s how high the pitch went. And Marko supported her from his place above with Paul chirping helpfully from the sideline. Yeah, you tell them who’s the boss here, sis.

The boys knew Betty wasn’t really herself right now. She was young and this was her first transformation so some shenanigans were bound to happen. In fact, the boys were looking forward to all the trouble she was about to cause before she was old enough to retain her human mind after changing into her a bat. Did they tell her about that little bit of information? No. Why should they? This is way more fun. Besides, whatever she does cannot be as bad as that one time when Paul got zooted out of his mind, changed and terrorized the good people of the Boardwalk.

She circled the cushion for a moment, jumping and howling before a calamity struck.

One of Marko’s pigeons suddenly landed near where all the commotion was happening. Betty grew quiet. The boys too. The bird took a step forward while the tiny bat backed away. Dwayne was about to shoo the pegion away once he saw how Betty reacted. David, on the other hand, was two seconds from smacking the thing away, smearing it across the cave wall. He didn’t like those smelly freaks anyway. Marko was already saying goodbye to his pet, although it had it coming for scaring Betty. But she surprised them when she started making even more ruckus than before. Jumping towards the pigeon with angry yips. She was coming for that lame chicken!

The pigeon hooted a few times, backing up from the oncoming menace before taking off. He had working self preservation instict, thank you very much. Betty, however, had not. She didn’t stop screeching at the poor bird, cussing him to hell and back and while all fired up she didn’t notice the edge of the couch. The tiny creature plummeted to the floor. Now she was on her back, again. With her feet up, again. And her tummy was in the way, again. And the whole core of balance was her argument, again. She rolled over and shook around to get the sand out of her fur.

In the meantime Dwayne shot a dark look at David. The leader was closest to Betty and could have easily catch her but David just shrugged. She needs to learn on her own. Paul and Marko were about fly down there but after just one look from David they abandoned the idea in favor of planting their asses on the edge of the couch and watching the show.

David changed into albino bat with fluffy fur and pink tinted wings. He looked down from his spot on the table and chirped and their youngest sibling. She squeaked hapilly when she saw a new face up above. She jumped a little with delight, her butt wiggling around like that of a pup. The plunge and subsequent meeting of the rock hard floor quickly forgotten. She wanted to get up there!

David flew down onto the floor but before she could come closer for a cuddle he flew up again. Sputtering indignantly, she flopped her wings a few times. Encouraging chirps from above gave her motivation to try again and suddenly she was flying. What a feeling! She did it! She was flying! However her elation was short lived because not even two second after hovering in the air she put a little more force into her clumsy flapping and struck the underside of the table. With a yip she plummeted to the ground yet again. The smallest fragments of the human girl inside were gone, a beast now overtaking completely. Betty started attacking the hard wooden legs of the table. Spitting and hissing, tiny teeth scratching the wood. Her tiny body vibrating in rage.

„Hey, hey. It’s ok, baby."

A giant hand took her away from the offending foe. It took a minute for her mind to compute what was happening. Dwayne cupped his hands carefully together so David had enough room to maneuver himself close to the little raging menace. David put his wing over Betty and nibbled behind her comically large ears. She calmed down immediately. Hearing the terror twins cooing at her somewhere from behind her soothed her fried nerves. After a minute of gentle scratching, she was ready to try again.

It was extremely painful at first, physically and emotionally. You had lost a vital part of your body, and you could never get it back. It was disorienting, and uncomfortable, like an itch you could never scratch. The skin around your eye was incredibly sensitive, the lightest movement or touch sending shockwaves of burning pain through your nerves. Tears were always on the brink of spilling over anytime you or a doctor had to replace medicine and bandages to keep the wound clean.

In the end, the pain wasn’t the worst part about it. No, you could deal with the pain. The people in your life, however, suddenly changing and disappearing was way, way worse.

Friends slowly stop coming to visit you at the hospital, calls go unanswered, gazes averted. Your parents supported you, of course. They still loved you, and you knew nothing could change that. But sometimes even they got this look in their eyes, something a little too close to pity.

It was an incredibly lonely first couple of months.

But the loneliness and the heartache slowly healed, along with your eye. The scarring lightened and stopped bleeding, and your skin no longer felt as if it was on fire every time you turned your head. You still had to keep it under wraps, to keep out infection, and to keep other people from seeing how bad it was. You knew that people seeing the bandages would cause looks and questions, but it was better than people actually seeing the wound, which would surely cause reactions that you didn’t have the patience to deal with.

As you were healing, you were also relearning how to do things in your daily life. Your sight and depth perception drastically changed, so things like walking and doing simple tasks had to be practiced all over again. You had to take things slow, which you hated, you couldn’t leave the house very often until you got used to walking without bumping into things.

The first place you wanted to go once you were able to was the boardwalk. It was one of your favorite places in the world, so loud and full of life and happiness. It was absolutely what you needed after all of the hardship you had to deal with lately.

So one night, when it got late and your parents turned in for the night, you went out and caught a bus to the nearest stop to the boardwalk. From there you walked until you saw the bright lights and heard loud screaming and chatter and laughter. You smiled as you took in the sight of the people and the games and the rides, it felt like you were breathing for the first time in months.

The first thing you did was buy a big thing of cotton candy and a soda, roaming the boardwalk and consuming sugary goodness. As you walked, you noticed that some people were giving you looks, but you ignored them, focused on just having a good time and living your best life.

Walking around for long periods of time still gave you a bit of trouble, you were starting to get a little dizzy, so after a bit you sat down on a bench to give your brain time to catch up with the rest of your body. This was nice too, you got to relax and just watch people for a bit. There were all sorts of people out tonight, families and tourists and couples, teenagers and surf nazis and locals, all in one spot, the heart of Santa Carla, enjoying the wonders it had to offer.

There was a group of guys that caught your eye, though. You didn’t mean to stare at them; in fact, you knew not to, you’ve seen them around the boardwalk in the past, and heard the rumors surrounding them. But, in your defense, it has been a while since you’ve been there, and you forgot how magnetic they can be.

They were milling near their motorbikes, smoking and talking and lightly harassing anyone that happened to walk by. Three blondes and two brunettes- had there always been five of them? You could have sworn there was only four- all dressed in black and leather, looking dangerous and infuriatingly hot. You would have noticed more, but by accident you make eye contact with one of the guys and you rip your attention away from them.

Shit, god damnit, you’ve been spotted now. There’s only one thing to do, and it’s to walk quickly away and hope you don’t run into them later.

You get up too quickly though, and you stumble straight into a man walking with who you assume to be his girlfriend.

“Hey! Watch it-” He starts to say, pissed off that someone ran into him, but then he takes a good look at you and lets out a laugh. “Oh, I guess you really can’t, huh?”

The girlfriend lets out a giggle, smirking behind a hand over her lips. You mumble out an apology and try to go around them, but the man blocks your path. “What was that? C’mon man I can’t hear you, you mute too or something?”

You look up at him and scoff, anger building inside you. Who the hell did this asshole think he was? Without thinking, you say “Yeah, real funny and original. Bet lines like that really score you in bed.”

There’s some laughter around you, making you realize that a crowd has been drawn. The man’s face turned bright red, his mouth curved downward into a frown and he got up in your space. “Oh, so you’re a tough guy now, huh?” He pushed you in the chest, making you stumble back. You get dizzy and almost fall, but you don’t hit the ground. Instead, your back hits someone's chest. You freeze, then slowly turn your head, to see a guy with spiky platinum blond hair staring at the man who pushed you. The four other guys with him were also there, glaring at the crowd of people just watching.

You turned to look back at the man who pushed you, all the color was drained from his face. His girlfriend was clutching his arm, trying to pull the man away but his feet were glued in place. The blond behind you smirked.

“There a problem here?”

The silence that swept over was deafening and unnatural, it was like all of the boardwalk was holding its breath waiting for an answer. The man swallowed, eyes gliding over the gang behind you, not focusing on one spot. “N-No, man. No problem.”

You let out a breath as you watch the man and his girlfriend back up, and the crowd starts to disperse. The man behind you gives a shark-like grin and chuckles deep. “Wonderful.” He says, and he wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you away. You can hear your heart thundering in your chest as you walk away with them, listening as they laugh and push each other.

“N-No m-man, n-no p-problem!” One of the blonds says in a mocking wavering tone, “What a fuckin pussy!” The gang starts laughing again, it feels like the ground underneath your feet is rumbling from the force of it. After a little more walking, they stop in front of a different bench and gesture for you to sit down.

“Take a load off, little man!” You snorted as you sat down, grinning despite the slight lightheadedness. Two of the blonds sat next to you, one with a wild mane of hair and a smile to match swinging an arm behind you. You look at all of them, nodding your head a little bit. “Thank you,” You said softly, “You didn’t have to do that.”

The spiky blond shrugged his shoulders and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Y/N” You said, and he nodded. “I’m David. This is Dwayne, Michael,” He gestured to the two brunettes, one with curly hair and sunglasses hanging off his shirt, the other with longer straight hair and not wearing a shirt at all. “And that’s Paul and Marko.” The two blonds next to you do little waves, the one that wasn’t right next to you has curly hair and a jacket so cluttered with patches it must be heavy.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Y/N!” Paul says, nudging his knee against yours, making you smile more. “It’s good to meet you guys, too.”

After the introductions were out of the way, David offered for you to hang out with them, but you declined, saying you needed to get home. At that David offered a ride instead. You hesitated, but accepted in the end. Riding behind him on his bike was terrifying and exhilarating, you clutched his middle tightly the whole way home, but the blond didn’t seem to mind.

“You should come to the boardwalk more often,” David said as you got off his bike, now at your house. He smiled at you like he was letting you in on a secret, “We’re there all night.”

From that point on, you couldn’t ignore the boy's siren call. The next couple days you would take the bus over, wander until you found them, and then do stupid shit with them all night. A lot of it consisted of them terrorizing people who even looked at them funny, but you didn’t find it scary anymore. You found it powerful. It was the best you’ve felt in a long time.

It wasn’t long, though, until the questions started. You supposed you should have seen it coming, but hanging out with them honestly made you forget.

“So Y/N,” Paul said one night, it was just you and him and Marko. You were leaning against the railing in front of the carousel, waiting for the others to get back from getting food. When you looked over at Paul, he asked “What’s up with the eye?”

Marko punched Paul's shoulder, giving him a look, and Paul threw his hands up dramatically. “What? I don’t mean anything by it, I’m just curious.”

You sighed a little bit, mulling over what to say. You weren’t mad that he asked, you just hated talking about it. “There’s nothing much to say.” You said after a couple seconds of silence. “I was in an accident. Got fucked up. End of story.” Paul and Marko both nodded, taking the hint not to ask anymore. The taller blond wrapped an arm around your shoulders and rested his chin on top of your head. A silent apology. You smiled a little and leaned into him, letting him know it was okay.

After that, David, Dwayne and Michael arrived back with food, and once everyone settled down at a nearby table to eat, David proposed that they go back to their place after eating. You were nervous to accept, but they were cool guys so far, so you didn’t see the harm in it.

Before you could voice your opinion, however, a sudden cold, wet substance suddenly splashed all over your face. You yelped and got up, trying to shake off whatever the fuck it was, when you heard laughter getting distant. Suddenly, the boys were all getting up and shouting, someone was holding onto your shoulders, and when you wiped at your eye you could see it was Dwayne. He looked absolutely livid.

“What the fuck just happened?” You asked, looking down at yourself, disgusted to find that your clothes were soaked now too. The brunette gripped your shoulders a little tighter, not enough to hurt but the pressure was there, “Some people have a death wish.”

You would have asked him to elaborate, but then something dawned on you. “Oh shit!” You exclaim, hand going up to your bandaged eye. “Fuck, I have to get home, I have to change this, fuck!” Dwayne's eyes widened a little, and he nodded, calling attention to the other boys, who were all talking angrily to each other. They all looked over, and when they heard that you needed to change your bandage, they all hurried over. “Our place is closer. Michael, take Y/N to get the supplies he needs. We’ll meet back up at the hotel.” David all but commanded, and everyone seemed to be in agreement. The rest of the boys took off on their bikes while Michael steered you in the direction of a small convenience store on the edge of the boardwalk.

“You okay?” Michael asked, worry written all over his face. You nodded at him, though in reality you were feeling gross, sticky and anxious as hell. You thought it was so nice of them to help you out, really, but you knew this meant that they would probably end up seeing your eye. Seeing your scars. The thought alone was enough to make you slightly nauseous. The brunette could tell that something more was going on with you, so he gently took your hand as you approached the shop. You looked at him, and he smiled at you, squeezing your hand gently. You gave a light smile back and looked away.

After buying the necessary wrap, tape and some bottles of water, you both get on Michaels bike and ride off to their place. You were just thinking about it now, David had said the word “hotel”. Did they stay at an actual hotel?

It didn’t take you long to figure out. When you arrived at the hotel, that was really more of a cave, you were in absolute awe of the place. It was massive and beautiful, you couldn’t believe these guys actually lived here. You had so many questions, but now that you were here, they would have to come after.

Michael led you over to a slightly dusty couch and you sat down, holding the items in your hands nervously. Everyone was sitting around you, you had a very attentive audience that you didn’t really want.

“Is there, uh, a private place I could do this?” You asked, and your heart sank when they shook their heads. “Most of the rooms collapsed when the earthquake hit. There’s not much left, and the parts that remain are too dangerous to go into.” Marko explained, and you sighed. You supposed there was no getting around it.

“Okay, well. Just, don’t say anything, okay?” You got out the bandage wrap from its packaging and took a deep breath. Slowly, you unwrapped the dirty bandage from around your face, revealing your eye to the boys.

All of their facial expressions changed, some more surprised than others. David looked the least shocked, eyes of steel trained on your face, just looking. Dwayne and Michael looked a little more concerned, Michael especially, but otherwise they tried to keep their expressions neutral. Paul and Marko looked intrigued, if anything. Like they wanted to ask questions but were reigning themselves in.

Overall, they kept quiet, and they didn’t shy away from your appearance, so you counted your blessings as you cleaned and dressed your eye as quickly as possible. When you were all finished, Marko and Paul launched themselves at you, sitting next to you with wide smiles on their faces.

“Dude! You’re so badass!” Paul shouted, and Marko was quick to agree. “You should get an eyepatch or something. Crank up the badass factor.”

You laughed at their antics, blushing a bit at their words. You could tell that they really thought you were actually cool. It warmed your chest and you smiled as they went on about eyepatch ideas.

Eventually, David dragged the two away, saying it's getting late and they should probably take you home now. You nodded in agreement, letting out a yawn. You didn’t realize just how tired you were.

Dwayne was the one who ended up taking you home, the ride was a lot gentler and smoother than it usually was, which you were grateful for. When you arrived at your house, and you got off his bike, Dwayne pulled on your arm before you could leave. You looked at him, confused, but then he got off his bike, and he stood in front of you, and he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on your cheek. You froze, heart pounding. Dwayne pulled away and let go, giving you a small smile. “Have a good night, Y/N.”

You swallowed hard as he got back on his bike. “Yeah- you too.” You stumbled out, making him chuckle. He then rode back off into the night, and you were left stunned on your front lawn.

You didn’t know what would happen now, you had absolutely no clue when it came to the gang of bikers. But you found yourself at peace with it.