#tdoj

Playcare looks busy as it is filled with soon-to-be parents looking to adopt a child. One aspect that Playtime Co., or rather the newly-run Playtime Co., is known for is its mission to take care of orphans and prepare them for adoption by their upcoming loving parents. Many toys greet the parents and guide them into the adoption process.

A woman approaches a blonde teacher and a raven butler in Home Sweet Home. “Excuse me, can you two help me with the adoption process?” “No problem, miss! We will help you in adopting your new kid. The name’s Miss Delight,” the blonde teacher replies. Miss Delight then explains to the soon-to-be mother about the paperwork and assessment to see if she is fit to be a good adoptive parent.

The woman notices the tall raven butler standing beside the teacher. “Seems to be a fine young gentleman,” she thought. “Sir, are you also helping around in this area?” she asked the butler. She expects a suave, male voice but to her surprise, a woman’s voice comes out. The raven responds, “Oh no, I’m a woman, but yes, I do provide help here in Playcare. My name is Rosalie.”

This realization confuses the woman when she realizes that Rosalie is a woman despite her masculine appearance. “This can’t be right, a woman isn’t supposed to look like that,” she thought. That confusion turns into anger when the raven does not fit what a lady expects to look like. 

The woman goes on a spiteful rant against Rosalie, talking about how she needs to wear dresses, grow her hair long, and wear make-up, not dressing and looking like a man. Rosalie remains still while the woman keeps screaming at her. Miss Delight attempts to break up the fight, “Now, now miss! I know Rosalie may not look feminine, but she is fine and help-” “And as for you!” The woman redirects her anger towards the teacher.

“I expected better from you, Miss Delight! How can you have someone like her walking around and talking to children, especially young girls?! She’s a bad role model for them of what a real lady looks like!” the woman keeps complaining about Rosalie, leaving the teacher frozen. Mommy Long Legs notices the commotion caused by the woman that Miss Delight and Rosalie are caught in and gently approaches the three. 

“Now, now, what’s the matter here?” Mommy cuts the woman’s rant. “Are you looking for a kid to adopt and care for? No worries, Miss Payne will help you with the process!” Mommy, or rather Marie, takes the woman aside to another part of Playcare, leaving the two to recover from the situation. “Whew! Thank goodness Marie helped us with that. Well, it’s not an adoption day without those kinds of parents, right Rosalie?” Rosalie remains unresponsive to Miss Delight’s remark about the situation they experienced and seems to space out.

“Hello? Rosalie? Are you there?” The teacher tugs on Rosalie’s arm, and that snaps her out of her frozen reaction. The raven looks around and directs her attention to the teacher who brought her back to conscious thought. “Rosalie, are you okay?” Miss Delight’s face is filled with concern and worry. The butler takes a little time to give her answer, “Uh…I’m fine…for now?” Her sullen voice states otherwise. 

“Look Rosalie, what we have experienced is pretty normal when we are open for adoption; some adults are really like that. It’s a pain in the neck, I know, but it is what it is.” “It’s not that I’m shaken about…” “Then, what is it?” Miss Delight responds with a confused expression. Rosalie tilts her head and walks towards a private room. Miss Delight catches this and follows her to that room.

“It’s what she says to me, Miss Delight.” “That...” the teacher pauses to find some other words to soften the blow but has none, so she goes straight to the point, “You don’t look like a real woman?” Rosalie subtly nods to her question. “That wasn’t the first time someone treated me like that…” The phrase intrigues yet shocks the teacher.

“Before I arrived in Playtime Co. and experienced well…all of this, I wasn’t well-liked by my peers and some adults.” “Why is that, Rosalie?” “Because of what I used to wear and look, Miss Delight.” This still raises questions for the teacher.

“I wore leather jackets, jeans, boots, and print t-shirts of my favorite bands,” the raven explains. “Sounds like you looked like a punk back then,” Miss Delight retorts. Rosalie looks at her, and the teacher now realizes that she might have offended the butler. "Oh sorry, I don’t mean to insult you-” “It’s fine and you were right, I did look like a punk back then. I even wear some makeup that makes me look like a rockstar!”

“Seems like you are into rock bands,” said Miss Delight. “I am! I loved their music and style when I was a teen! It made me inspired to play my own music and make one for myself.” Rosalie’s passionate statement made Miss Delight smile as she likes it when someone proudly talks about their interests. “Unfortunately, they didn’t really like my appearance and interests since they viewed rock bands, rock music, and anyone who looks punk as…demonic…” This slightly saddens the teacher as Rosalie seems to like this kind of stuff.

“They didn’t treat me well before, always leaving me out, insulting me. Hell, even one adult said to me that I am the Devil tempting young kids to sin because of what I look like and am into.” That account shocks Miss Delight as she begins to visualize the harassment that Rosalie went through when she was young and it makes her heart ache. Who even has the audacity to say that to a young teen?! 

“It’s not the same as being scolded for not looking like a real woman, but…” Rosalie begins to tear up as she feels anguish from the past that makes her feel like an abomination, a monster, a demon, or whatever the hell they used to call her back then. “It still hurts.” 

Rosalie’s experience mortifies the blonde teacher. No kid deserves to undergo that just because they are different from their peers. It sends shivers down her spine knowing that there are teens like Rosalie in Home Sweet Home. Will their peers outside Playtime Co. accept them for who they are, or will they go through harassment like Rosalie did? And don’t get her started about the thought of whether their soon-to-be parents will accept them or not.

“I am truly sorry that you have to go through all of that, Rosalie. I hope your father accepted you for who you are,” Miss Delight expresses her sympathy to Rosalie. “Oh, he did, and it is the only good thing that I experienced. At least my dad doesn’t mind who I am.” This relieves the teacher knowing that she has at least a good parent by her side. “Though, I wonder…what if she’s right?”

“Huh?” Miss Delight was befuddled by Rosalie's claim. “What if I’m truly a bad role model for kids and they started to dress like me-” “Rosalie-” “and when they are sent out of the building, they might be harassed like I was-” “Rosalie-” “Oh God, I doomed them, didn’t I-"

“Rosalie!”

Miss Delight finally snaps her out of her anxiety-ridden ramble.

“What that woman said to you was unacceptable. It doesn’t matter if you look feminine or not, ‘normal’ or punk; what matters is if you are a good person, and indeed, you are! Plus, the kids are really lucky to have someone like you! It’s not every day they have a cool raven butler as their special guest in class,” the teacher’s words comfort Rosalie.

“Plus, the kids really like you for who you are and what you look like! It inspired them to be themselves and not care what anyone says about them. They enjoy being around you! One could say that they enjoy being around you too much.” That last sentence made Rosalie chuckle, knowing that some orphans, mostly teens, have a crush on her.

Delight puts both of her hands on Rosalie’s shoulders to further drive the point. “You are fine for who you are, Rosalie, and nothing is ever gonna change that.” Her words of encouragement bring Rosalie to happy tears and hugs Miss Delight, with the teacher reciprocating. It is nice to know that besides her father, Dupin Lupin, some loved her for who she is. The two release each other from the embrace.

“At least thanks to you, we finally know she isn’t suited to be a parent,” Miss Delight tries to make light of the situation. Rosalie chuckles at the teacher’s jab, knowing that she is right: no child would ever want to have a closed-minded parent like that woman.

“Heh heh…yeah,” Rosalie remarks. “Well, should we go back out helping them with the process?” “You can stay here, Rosalie, I’ll be the one to go out. I wouldn’t want you to be hurt again,” Miss Delight replies, wanting her co-worker to rest for a bit after a stressful experience.

“But how would we know if they are suited to be good adoptive parents? They must be fine with me, so we know that they are accepting,” Rosalie jokes about her supposed “role” in the adoption process. “In all seriousness, I’ll be fine. Who cares what they say about me when I have you, Dad, and some people on my side?” Rosalie’s words made the teacher smile, knowing that she made this experience bearable for the raven. “Alright, come along with me, Rosalie.”

“Look, I don't know what else to tell you.” The toy robot remarked, gripping the keylogger in his fist. “They probably just scared him off like they usually do with the others.”

“Scared him off?” The young orphan questioned, gliding towards the door to lean on it. “What do you mean?”

“How the hell am I supposed to explain this can of worms…” Zacker sighed. Never did he think there’d come a time where he had to explain the truth to an orphan. “There's this thing we do where we scare a kid off when they turn eighteen. Because if they don't leave, then…”

Lonnie raised a brow, urging him to continue. “Then?”

“They'll-” Zacker hesitated, carefully choosing his words. “They'll get…demoted and- Hold on…”

He stopped mid-sentence, noticing a discrepancy.

“... Maury's eighteenth birthday is still two weeks away.” The robot murmured to himself, slowly walking as he tried to make sense of this realization. “They wouldn't demote him this early, right? Was that what the last meeting was about? All I know is something happened to Hixel and-”

“You're giving me a lot of fragmented intel here.” Lonnie snarked, pressing his ear against the door to make sure nobody was listening, before pushing himself off. “Maury was demoted, how exactly?”

“...What I can tell you for now is that he’s still here, in the factory. Somewhere…further down.” Warned the toy. “My advice, stay clear of that place. Unless you want to join him. Him and the rest of us, that is.”

Lonnie narrowed his eyes at the toy, not exactly liking the vagueness of his answers. It’s understandable, he figured. Glancing at the locked doorknob, Lonnie assumed Zacker was more worried of any unwanted eavesdroppers than even he was.

The orphan’s hand reached a button hidden in his headphones, triggering the jammer…and an unexpected sharp migraine attack at the unexpecting toy.

“AgH!!”

Zacker fell on his knees, gripping his head like his life depended on it. Lonnie stepped back in shock, turning the jammer function off. The migraine finally stopped, letting Zacker recover before prompting himself up.

“Stop- doing that.”

“Noted…” Lonnie replied, remaining confusion still evident in his voice as he tried to understand this apparent side-effect. “Sorry, I…thought you were being vague cuz you didn’t want anyone hearing.”

“How is that supposed to help?” The robot sharply whispered. “How does giving me all those speech interruptions and migraines help with eavesdroppers?”

“It's a jammer.” Lonnie clarified in a deadpanned tone. “How was I supposed to know it would do that to you?”

“You- That's supposed to-?! Ugh…” Zacker mentally cursed, but at least he knew the cause behind all his speech problems now. “The truth. You want the truth, right?”

“I think I've made that incredibly clear, yeah.” Lonnie confirmed with a straight face.

“...Fine.”

Zacker prompted himself on the bed and beckoned Lonnie to come closer. The latter leaned in as the former whispered everything he needed to know. The entire time, Lonnie furrowed his brows, not sure how to absorb everything being told to him. The robot eventually pulled away, leaving the boy completely baffled.

“Then, if you're with them, then why are you leaving keyloggers in their equipment?” He glared at Zacker suspiciously.

“... Let's just call it unfinished business.” Was all the toy told him.

“And you're okay with telling me all of this?” Lonnie asked. “Wouldn't your…superiors disapprove?”

“I may be working with them, but that doesn't mean I have to do everything they say. My business doesn't concern them.” Zacker simply stated. “All I'm asking from you is that you keep this to yourself.”

Zacker subtly threatened Lonnie, pressing a finger against where the robot’s lips would've been.

“You didn’t hear this from me.”

...

That was a day ago. Now, Lonnie stood in front of Orion's door, recalling what just happened back at the school. After everything he now knows, does he really want the others to involve themselves? Don't get him wrong, he was still having a hard time believing what Zacker told him.

Experiments, torture, and everything else that would've made any sane person go green in disgust. A can of worms isn't enough to describe what Zacker told him, this was a pit of vipers. Still, Lonnie had to be skeptical. That was...a very bold claim after all. For all he knew, it could all be this fabricated lie.

Still, one thing’s for certain.

And Then a Bit 158k

“We’d like to give the fans what they want.” Magee states, placing his hand on the table in front of him and leaning forward. “We want to give them Larry Stylinson.”

Or, take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.

(aka Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.)

Jump Before We Fall 113k

Louis and Zayn’s lives revolve around running a hotel by the sea, Harry is a student who wants a life far from home for just a little while, Niall doesn’t know where life leads him and Liam thinks he has already found all purposes in his life.

Red Brick Heart 98k

Harry has only had his room for thirty-two minutes when it stops being his.

Uni AU. Harry had turned up at the halls of residence expecting fun, new friends, and maybe a life experience or two. What he doesn’t expect is a surprise roommate who’s loud and dramatic and obsessed with tea and is maybe, actually, all he’s ever wanted.

Wild And Unruly 123k

Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.

Love Is A Rebellious Bird 134k

AU in which the boys still make music. Louis is the concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Harry is the New! and Exciting! interim conductor/ex-cello prodigy who “has made Mozart cool again” according to Esquire Magazine (Louis hates him immediately, which is definitely why he internet stalked him in his dark bedroom late at night that one time), and Niall is the best. Zayn and Liam are around too.

Don’t hum Bolero.

Young & Beautiful 227k

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn’t stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

Gods & Monsters 201k

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that’s exactly what he did.

Butterfly Gun (.epub) 100k

Harry has never been much of a fighter, but—as always—where Louis Tomlinson is concerned, a lot of things stop being true.

1940’s AU. Even after six years apart, they can’t forget their shared wartime childhood.

Fading 202k

Louis knows about beauty; the combination of qualities that pleases the aesthetic senses. He creates that combination every day in the garments he designs while studying fashion at uni. The cut of the design, the color of the fabric, the intricacy of the stitching; it all comes together to create something beautiful. When the science student with the long legs and dimpled smile agrees to model for him, Louis decides he’s found beauty personified. Harry just thinks Louis needs someone to show him how beautiful he is.

Wear It Like A Crown 141k

AU. As part of a team of fixers hired to handle a gay scandal in Buckingham Palace, Louis expects Prince Harry to be a lot of things—most notably a royally spoilt brat. Never mind that the very same Prince Harry used to star in quite a number of Louis’ teenage fantasies.

Pull Me Under 140k

AU. As the first British footballer to come out at the prime of his career, it helps that Louis Tomlinson is in a long-term, committed relationship. Even if that relationship is fake. (Featuring Niall as Louis’ favourite teammate, Liam as Louis’ agent, and Zayn as Liam’s boyfriend, who just happens to be good friends with one Harry Styles.)

Feel the Chemicals Burn in My Bloodstream 123k

“Alright, alright. No need to bite,” Harry says, holding his hands above his head in a general gesture of surrender.

Louis quirks an eyebrow and his foot nudges Harry’s as he moves to sit straight. “If that’s what you think biting is, you’ve got another thing coming, Styles.”

Harry blinks at him before he feels his face flush and inside the marrows of his bones there’s pulses of heat, pulses of fire spreading through him. “Is that a threat, your Highness?”

“That’s a promise,” Louis answers just as the car halts to a stop. “One I intend to keep.”

Harry is a journalist with a lot of secrets and Louis is the future king of the United Kingdom; they live together for 60 days.

Empty Skies 134k

For three years, Harry has been running from his past. Now, he is moving to London and pledges to fulfil his only dream – making it big in the music industry. Not everyone has a place, though, and the competition is tough. As is his past catching up on him.

Louis is part of the biggest boy band of the world, and getting there had meant a lot of hard work, as well as sacrificing parts of his heart and soul. He’s still happy. Maybe not as happy as he could be, but who is he to complain?

Featuring Perrie as Harry’s adorable flatmate, Niall as his manager, and Liam and Zayn as Louis’ bandmates.

Unbelievers 136k

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything.

Relief Next To Me 333k

AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

Bloodline 177k

Louis doesn’t know how to feel when his best friend, Liam, finds out about a brother that he never knew, who was placed for adoption before he was born and is bursting into his life at twenty-four years old.

Louis is very wary of the man who might replace him. He has always thought of Liam as his own brother.

What if Liam doesn’t need him anymore? What if there’s no room for Louis? After all, blood runs thicker than water.

Louis doesn’t like Liam’s new brother and he doesn’t even know him. That’s irrelevant, though.

He doesn’t like him. He doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t want him hanging around. He doesn’t want anything to do with him.

That is, until he meets him.

BONUS: These Inconvenient Fireworks (.pdf)

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