#sensory sensitivity

happy disability pride month to the osnt kids!!

but it was never that big of a deal unless peter was re-telling it. 

telling everyone how careful they had to be around him. 

derek’s never gonna let somebody talk about his son like that. like it isn’t obvious what eli’s going through, every time. and that all he really needs is some coping strategies, and some reassurance. 

“how have we never talked about this before?” stiles says. “because that’s exactly… like, oh my god. exactly my childhood.”

“really,” derek says.

“besides the superpowers, obviously,” stiles says. “but, like, bright lights, or perfume, or… actually, texture’s the worst one. velvet is literally evil. like, fingernails on a chalkboard would be more comforting. or suede, or stockings, or too-dry paper.” 

derek grimaces, and stiles says, “which ones? you’re fucking kidding.”

“nope,” derek says, and stiles stares at him for a while.

suede isn’t that bad sometimes. but for eli, it’s pretty much torture.

he’s a lot like stiles, actually.

“yeah?” stiles says, and his heartbeat speeds up for a second before he adds, “just when you finally thought you were free of me! nope.”

but his voice is soft, and his eyes flicker over derek’s face. derek steps closer, swallows.

Normalize dressing alternative.

Normalize dressing for comfort.

Normalize dressing formal in informal settings.

Normalize not liking formal clothes.

Normalize wearing tails, ears, and other things considered "cringe."

Normalize needing to dress a specific way because of sensory processing issues.

Normalize not having one set fashion sense and changing things up.

Normalize wearing clothes associated with the opposite binary gender, including for both cis people and trans people.

Normalize wearing revealing outfits just because you like them.

Normalize dressing "dramatic" or "over the top."

Normalize cosplay.

Normalize historical fashion.

Like...

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ🍎 ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧: *✧: *✧

“Sweet pie… How many times do I have to tell you to not leave your hair wet like that?”

Caleb sighed heavily as he stepped inside and closed the door behind himself with his foot. He rolled his eyes in fond exasperation when an annoyed groan came from behind the couch.

“How did you know?” She complained, rising from her lying position and peering over at him as he balanced heavy-looking bags between his arms.

“The apartment smells of your shampoo,” he answered easily.

She huffed and stood up to go help him with organising the grocery products in his kitchen. And as soon as she was close enough, Caleb leaned down and buried his nose into her hair -the damp roots, still kind of warm from her shower, released a familiar, citrusy scent that belonged only to her. It reminded him of lemon trees standing tall and strong under a summer, sunny day.

“It’s too hot today to use the hair-drier…” she tried to justify her laziness.

But Caleb gave her a knowing look, and she scrambled to look busy with putting the eggs in the fridge to avoid an earful.

“But if you don’t dry your hair properly, you’re going to complain that your head hurts later…” He pointed out because he had seen her more than once suffering like that -her palms pressing against her throbbing temples as she whined from the pain.

She shrugged his warning off -like per usual- and finished putting everything in place for him.

“Ice-cream?”

Holding out the box of their favourite cone ice-cream he had bought from the supermarket, she attempted to change the topic.

Caleb pushed himself off where he was leaning against the kitchen counter and gestured to her to make herself comfortable again. “Get yours. I’ll have one after I dry your hair.”

While he went into the bathroom to get a brush and a towel, she did as she was told and returned back to the couch.  She unwrapped her ice-cream and began eating it but… she couldn’t exactly enjoy its taste.

She felt kind of guilty to make Caleb worry for her like that. It wasn’t like she couldn’t take care of herself -she was more than capable to do so. But lately, she didn’t have the patience to do her own hair anymore.

It had grown long and since it was very thick, she struggled to maintain it. Especially during the warm weather, when she sweated and hated the feeling of the strands clinging onto her skin. Blow-drying it took her hours, and styling it was an impossible challenge.

She had even stopped trying to follow those “easy” hairstyle DIY-s that popped up in her socials’ feed because she failed to do them and it only made her even more frustrated, feeling incompetent while everybody else somehow managed to look cool and pretty.

Not to mention that her hair shed worse than a dog, and she could find it –disgustingly- everywhere. And she had lost count of how many times it got stuck as she sat on a chair or lied on her flank in bed…

“Leb…”

“Yes, sweet pie?”

He hummed lowly as he sat behind her, his fingers threading through her long locks to gently take care of any knot before using the actual hairbrush. With one hand, he reached out for the towel and went to dab the soft fabric onto the ends of her hair to remove the excess of water there, when-

“I want to go for a buzz-cut.”

She blurted out, and he froze.

The towel fell on his lap. His mind rehearsed her words once, twice to digest them…

“What!?”

Instinctively, his hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back against his chest so he could meet her gaze from beyond her shoulder.

And she chuckled at his reaction.

He blinked, shocked.

“Are you gone-”

“I’m kidding. Not that short. But short,” she said to soothe his panic, the back of her head resting against his shoulder. Her hands brushed her hair forward and looked down at where the ends now reached -almost past her chest. “...it got too long.”

His eyebrows furrowed while he admired the long locks, and he let out a long sigh as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Why?” He curiously questioned her decision.

“Because I can’t maintain it anymore… It's getting annoying. I can’t live with ponytails and slick-buns for the rest of my life,” she replied honestly, tired of the unsatisfying hair-routine she ended up in.

Caleb pouted slightly, his purple eyes staring at her hair -the same hair he was just carefully taking care of only moments before- and understood what she meant. He had noticed that she was growing more and more lazy with the passing time as its length went past her shoulders. But if she had asked, he would’ve braided her hair for the rest of his life.

“How short…?” He asked, seeing her playing with the ends that were beginning to curl as they air-dried.

“Like… above my shoulders.”

“Here?”

His hand touched the side of her neck, just above her collarbone, and she nodded in confirmation.

“It’s going to be a big chance,” he murmured, his voice coming out quieter as if he was trying to mentally prepare himself more than her.

“Yep. Are you going to accompany me to the hairdresser?”

Tilting her head further back, she looked up at him from upside down, her eyes shining with anticipation and Caleb… he couldn’t ever deny her anything.

“Of course…”

She smiled, feeling relieved that she had his support with this. Usually, the people around her tried to talk her out of the idea of cutting her hair short because they mostly believed that longer was more feminine and other preconceived opinions that she didn’t share. But having Caleb by her side changed things -she felt more free to experiment and find ways to express her true self without worries.

“...but on one condition.”

His addition made her frown, and she shifted between his arms to turn enough to face him.

“What condition?”

“Let me braid it one last time,” he requested because he was going to miss having her sitting on his lap, his fingers disentangling and crossing the locks until they formed pretty, intricate patterns. Or even simply playing with it as they cuddled and she rested atop of him with her head on his chest.

Her gaze softened as she realised what Caleb was actually asking for, and honestly, she felt bittersweet too. “Okay.”

That afternoon, they had fun experimenting with different hairstyles, using colourful pins and cute bows to snap pictures and laugh together. And Caleb spent the whole night running his fingers through it, knowing that he had to wait at least a year to see it this long again. 

He kept his promise and he waited outside the hairdresser, walking back and forth impatiently. 

She didn’t let him inside and watch because she wanted the final look to be a surprise. And he had agreed but… Not knowing how those scissors were going to cut her beautiful hair had him almost going insane.

Patting the pockets of his trousers, he looked for a candy to munch on instead of torturing his bottom lip with his teeth. But then the door opened.

“Ta-da!”

She exclaimed, a big smile on her lips, as she came to stand right in front of him with her new hair.

Short. Right above her collarbones like she had told him.

His heart stuttered inside his chest.

Caleb felt the nape of his neck burn as the sight reminded him

of the very first time they had met -when they had been just kids, him with his everlasting scraped knees, and her with the short bob she paraded proudly even if the other kids had made fun of her.

“You look exactly like you did back then,” he smiled back at her as he stepped forward and tenderly cupped her face between his hands, admiring her from up close.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” She snorted a flustered chuckle while she instinctively held onto his wrists.

He laughed together with her and leaned in to press a kiss on the tip of her nose.

“It is when you look this happy.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ🍎 ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *✧: *✧: *✧

Currently needing a Caleb to accompany me to a hairdresser so I can cut my long hair short too... 🫠🧡

🖇️ #The LADS Men Dealing With My Daily Issues collection:

✧ “Morning Stubble” [Zayne x Non!MC]; ✧ “Selective taste” [Sylus x Non!MC]; ✧ “Summer Heat” [Rafayel x Non!MC]; ✧ “Loose-fit Hoodie” [Xavier x Non!MC]; ✧ ...

🔖 If you'd like to be added to a taglist for future works related to CALEB or this series, just let me know!!

📌 If you're interested in reading more of my works, you can go check my masterlist!!

this is your reminder to use your accommodations before you start suffering! if you’re photophobic, put the sunglasses on before you’re in pain. if you have joint instability, put the gloves on before your hands start hurting. if you can feel the migraine coming on, take the rescue meds before you’re incapacitated.

it’s not a waste or an overreaction, it’s a preventative measure. you deserve to live life to the fullest, and sometimes that means using the aids whenever and wherever you can.