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tinyundercover · 1 month

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pepper & felix

part one

In this universe, when a person turns 21, they gain the ability to communicate with their soulmate telepathically. For the borrower Pepper, this turns out to be quite a shock. word count: 2.9k

“Can you hear me?”

The words floated around Pepper’s mind for a moment, soft and fuzzy as if he was hearing them from a distance.

“Hello? Can you hear this?”

Pepper spun in a circle, searching for the source of the strange voice, but he was completely alone in the secluded area under a floorboard. He tensed up, briefly remembering a myth he had been told as a child, of soulmates and telepathic connections. He hadn’t thought it had been real, but…

“I’ll just try again later.”

After that, the voice went quiet, and the fuzzy feeling in Pepper’s mind vanished. He spent the next few seconds staring around at his surroundings, heart heavy. Once he was certain that he was completely alone, he tightened his grip on his satchel and continued his trek back home.

He could worry about the messages after he rationed out his food for the week.

—

The second time Pepper’s mind was filled with someone’s else’s voice, he felt more prepared.

The wiry black-haired borrower was sitting in his hammock, a thick piece of fabric being held up by two push pins in the wall. He had been absentmindedly scribbling in his journal when he heard it.

“Hello?”

Pepper bit his lip. He briefly thought back to the myth, stomach currently twisting in knots.

“It’s me. Your soulmate.”

A chill settled into Pepper’s stomach, and he drew his knees closer to his chest.

“Um, if you want to talk back, just interlock your fingers and press them to your chest. And then I’ll be able to hear you.”

Pepper didn’t really understand how moving his hands somehow would allow this mystery voice to hear him, but he knew that being heard was not something borrowers wanted. He drew his bottom lip into his mouth, vaguely wondering if he was going crazy.

The voice had gone quiet for a moment, clearly waiting for him to respond.

Pepper could hear the disappointment as the voice said, “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk. I don’t even know if you can hear this. But, I just wanted to say hi. We’re… We’re soulmates.”

Soulmates? Pepper swallowed hard. Most borrowers go their whole lives without seeing more than fifty others of their kind, and they needed to be incredibly lucky to find someone they liked enough to start a relationship with. The idea that there was another borrower out there, that was supposedly “perfect” for Pepper, was astounding.

What if his soulmate was hundreds of miles away, hiding somewhere across the country? Pepper would never be able to meet them.

“I just turned twenty-one a few days ago. You know, soulmate-connection age. Oh… maybe you’re not twenty-one yet and that’s why you can’t hear me. This is a little embarrassing, then. But I guess if you’re not listening, it doesn’t matter, right?”

Pepper was struggling to follow. He himself was twenty-two. You had to be at least twenty-one to communicate with your soulmate, then?

“I like to sing. I’ve always thought that my soulmate would maybe be a singer too. Or maybe not. I just get the feeling that you are artsy, too, you know?”

The borrower shifted in his hammock, peering down at the journal in his hands. He had ripped up thick sheets of paper and sewn them together with thread. He supposed he did enjoy making things.

“Are you artsy?”

The voice had lifted up a little, clearly hopeful that Pepper would respond. The borrower didn’t move an inch.

“...That’s okay. I’ll tune in later. Remember— interlocked hands on your chest. If you wanna talk.”

Pepper was left in silence. His small chest heaved with uneasy breaths, while tan arms hugged his journal close to his torso.

Despite his apprehension, it was kind of nice to hear about his… “soulmate.” His soulmate might even be sort of brave, considering the fact that he is apparently a singer. Pepper hadn’t met a single borrower that felt comfortable enough to even speak loudly, let alone identify themselves as a singer. A strange feeling of appreciation wormed its way into Pepper’s chest. Maybe this wasn’t so bad.

Maybe it’s just nice to hear from someone, the borrower concluded. He had lived alone in the walls of this apartment for a little over two years, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had had a real conversation with someone.

A smile settling over his face, Pepper continued doodling in his journal.

—

“Hey. My sister came to visit today.”

Pepper nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around, tiny hands clutched around a grape twice the size of his head. When he realized that he was alone in the kitchen, he relaxed microscopically.

“She just wanted to stop by to wish me a belated happy birthday. And she made me a bracelet, which is so sweet! I moved out a few years ago, and since we’re both so busy it’s hard to see each other. It was really nice.”

Pepper’s mind wandered to his own sister. She was a few years older than him, but they could be twins, sharing tan skin and shaggy black hair, two dark features that every borrower wished to have. Basil, Pepper's sister, had moved out when Pepper was fourteen. He had seen her twice since then, on the rare occasion she was able to stop home and say hi.

He really did understand his soulmate. If his hands weren’t holding the grape, he might have considered saying so.

“I don’t have any roommates, or anything, so I’m alone a lot.”

Pepper was trekking across the counter, one arm holding the grape to his hip. He reached the edge, where his hook was latched onto the smooth surface.

“I’m an introvert, so it’s fine, but it’s definitely nice to hear from the people that I care about. You know?”

It only took a few seconds for Pepper to slide all the way to the floor, carefully holding the grape in one arm to prevent it from falling.

“My sister asked me if I had heard from my soulmate, now that I’m twenty-one. She’s really into the soulmate thing, but she’s only eighteen, so she has to wait. Anyways, I told her that I had reached out to you, but I think you might be younger than me, and you can’t hear me, maybe. Or you’re just shy?”

Pepper found the crack at the base of the counter and eased his way through, yanking his hook and his grape with him. He was met by a familiar darkness, and he subconsciously relaxed in the safety of the walls.

“Anyways, well… It’s late, and I should probably get some sleep. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Pepper murmured, wishing he had the strength to truly say it back.

—

It had been a week since Pepper had first heard from his soulmate. Since then, the soft voice had entered his mind a total of five times— chatting about his sister, sometimes, or his favorite songs. Pepper was always left with a fondness, followed by a feeling of guilt, that he was ignoring his brave soulmate for the safety of his own comfort.

He was afraid that he would fall in love with this person. He would tell them all of his secrets and thoughts and desires, only to learn that they were miles and miles apart. Hell, even if his soulmate lived down the street, they would still be out of reach for a borrower.

But— why give up before even trying? Was it really that harmful to say hello?

So, Pepper pressed his shaky hands against his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart. He closed his eyes, focusing on the fuzziness in the back of his mind, tuning in. “Hello? Are you there?”

He felt his own heartbeat quicken as a voice immediately responded, bright and ecstatic.

“Yes! Hello! Oh my gosh!”

Pepper let out a sharp breath, a mix of a gasp and a laugh. Biting his tongue, he tried again. “It’s… nice to meet you. I’ve been wanting to talk back to you, but… I don’t know, I get scared every time. Um, yeah. I’m Pepper…”

Something strange happened, when he tried to say his name. He knew that he was saying “Pepper,” but as he did so, static had filled his mind, clouding the word.

“Oh! I guess you didn’t know. Soulmate telepathy doesn’t let you say your name. I didn’t catch that, I’m sorry.”

Huh.

“Why? That’s dumb.” Pepper’s brow furrowed.

“I don’t know. The universe makes the rules.”

Pepper laughed again, pressing his hands further against his chest. The warmth of his hammock surrounded him, but he was solely focused on the warmth of the voice in his mind. “Well, I guess I’ll always be a mystery to you.”

“I guess you will,” his soulmate said teasingly. Pepper smiled to himself, thinking hard before proposing his next question.

“Did you have a good day?”

“I did! I called my sister.”

Pepper blinked curiously. “You called her?”

“Yeah. To say thank you again, for the bracelet. I haven’t taken it off since she gave it to me!”

The borrower stared at the wall, trying to fit the pieces together in his mind. “Do you live close to her?”

“Oh yeah, she’s only like twenty minutes away. I just called her because I was out all day.”

Pepper nodded to himself. That made more sense, he supposed. If his soulmate lived that close to his sister he could easily call out to her while on a borrowing trip.

“I have a sister too,” Pepper admitted. “But I haven’t seen her in… maybe a year? She’s six years older than me, and once we both moved out, well… you know how it is. We are not nearly as close as you and your sister.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you two close growing up?”

“Yeah, definitely. We actually lived right next to a bakery, and she would always come home with the best stuff. She got me a big piece of this brownie thing once, and it was incredible.”

Pepper found himself smiling at the memory of Basil coming home with a big chunk of chocolate, beaming as she showed it to her younger brother. They had shared it and it had been the best thing Pepper had ever tasted.

He wondered how Basil was doing.

“Aww, that’s sweet! She seems like a nice sister.”

“She was.” Pepper relaxed into the hammock, closing his eyes. “I’d like to run out and visit her soon. Especially now that it’s getting warmer, and I can actually walk outside without drowning in snow.”

“Yeah, I get that,” his soulmate said with a note of amusement. “I still have a bruise on my leg from where I slipped on ice last December.”

Pepper raised an eyebrow. His soulmate must really be brave, going outside in the middle of winter! “I couldn’t imagine trying to walk on ice.”

“No need to rub it in,” his soulmate giggled, and he once again was left in confusion.

When Pepper said nothing, his soulmate continued. “So, how old are you? What do you do for fun?”

Pepper chewed his lip. “I’m twenty-two. And I’m crafty, I guess? I like to draw sometimes, when I have the materials. I really like to make things.”

“I knew you would be artsy!” His soulmate said brightly. “What do you make?”

Pepper stared around his room from the height of his hammock. A scrappy rug, fairy lights, and assorted articles of clothing surrounded him. “Decorations for my room. I’ve really started getting into clothing, too. I just finished up a jacket, actually.”

“That’s so cool!”

“…Thank you,” Pepper responded, mildly surprised.

“I’m not very good with my hands, but I’m pretty good at singing. I like to perform.”

“That’s cool, too,” Pepper admitted. “I’ve never sang in my life. I don’t really know how, and I would be so scared of getting caught.”

“Aw, that’s okay. I used to be super shy when I was younger, but the stage fright eventually goes away, I promise!”

Pepper blinked up at the ceiling. “…Thanks?”

“Oh— sorry, I should probably go. I’ve got to get up early tomorrow. But… I’ll talk to you tomorrow..? If that’s okay?”

“Yes,” Pepper said immediately.

“Okay, great! Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight.”

—

Pepper’s heart was pounding out of his chest.

He stood stiffly, back pressed against a metal thermos. He was currently stranded on the counter in the early hours of the morning, and he had greatly underestimated how early the resident human would be getting up today.

The heavy sound of footsteps filled his ears. Pepper swallowed hard, praying that the human wouldn’t touch his thermos of coffee anytime soon. The human usually forgot his coffee half the time, as sporadic as he was. Hopefully Pepper will be lucky this time.

The borrower shuffled to the side, peering around the edge of the thermos. His stomach chilled at the sight of the massive human.

The human’s hands alone dwarfed Pepper in size. A torso the size of a house moved around the room, easily carrying an enormous backpack that Pepper couldn’t even imagine trying to budge. A head of sand-colored hair was turned away from the borrower, much to his relief. The human seemed to be typing something on his phone.

The human left his apartment at different times each day, which was frustrating for Pepper. The borrower wouldn’t have ventured out this morning if he knew the human would be up before the sun rose.

Pepper’s gaze darted over to a thin crack on the wall, a few feet to the side. He could make a dash for it, but it would take about fifteen seconds to get there, and the human could turn around in any of those seconds… Pepper could wait for the human to leave the apartment, but the human might not leave without grabbing his thermos first…

The sound of keys jangling filled his ears, and Pepper’s blood ran cold. He begged for the human to leave.

He heard enormous footsteps receding, moving away from him, and he nearly sobbed in relief before a murmur filled the air. “Fuck, almost forgot—“

It took less than three seconds for the human to cross the room, and Pepper slapped his hands over his mouth at the sight of massive pale fingers closing around the thermos. He instinctively flinched away, staring up as the thermos was pulled away, leaving him stranded on the counter with a human who was sure to snatch him up the moment he laid his eyes on the defensiveness borrower—

But… the human wasn’t even looking at him.

Pepper swayed on his feet, staring at the human who was now opening his front door and stepping outside. The human had grabbed his thermos and left the apartment without even sparing a glance in Pepper’s direction.

The front door clicked shut, and the second Pepper was alone he collapsed to his knees, hugging his chest. Heavy gasps left his mouth, as the terror of the last thirty seconds left his body in shaky waves. “Oh my god, oh my god…”

He swallowed thickly, squeezing his eyes shut. Without even realizing what he was doing, he slid his hands to his chest, clasping his fingers together. “Hello? Hello? Are you there?”

It took a few agonizing seconds to receive a response, and Pepper almost sobbed in relief at the familiar soft voice that filled his mind. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I almost just got caught,” Pepper blurted, heart pounding.

“What do you mean?”

“Caught! I almost got caught! I was out, and the bean almost saw me, I almost— oh my god, I could have… this could have been so bad. Oh my god.”

His soulmate was silent for a long time, and Pepper’s stomach twisted in apprehension, a feeling that quickly morphed into irritation, that his soulmate would just ignore him when he was so clearly upset.

“Did you hear me?” He demanded with more anger that he intended.

“Uh, yeah, I— yeah, I heard you, I’m just a little confused. Sorry. Are you okay?”

Pepper swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut. Suddenly filled with the horrifying thought that the human could return at any moment, he jumped to his feet, beginning to jog towards the crack in the wall. “Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine now, he’s gone. I— I’m sorry, I’m just shaken up. That was just a really close call.”

“Uh,” his soulmate said. “Were you in danger? Did someone attack you? Maybe you should call nine-one-one?”

Pepper nearly laughed at the absurdity. “Of course I was in d—“

He skidded to a halt suddenly. “…nine… one one?”

“Yeah? Oh, I’m sorry— are you not in America? What’s your emergency line?”

Ice seeped into Pepper’s veins. His hands remained clasped against his chest, although they were significantly shakier than they were before.

“Are you… a…”

Pepper couldn’t bring himself to ask. Despite being alone, terror was sinking into his stomach like a rock. There was no way. No way!

“I’m sorry,” Pepper said numbly, staggering towards the crack in the wall. “I have to go.”

“Wha— are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Sorry. I promise I’m fine. Bye.”

His hands fell from his chest as he squeezed into the walls, immediately stumbling against a piece of wood to catch his balance. His soulmate was sending him a confused farewell, but he could barely hear it over the blood pounding in his ears.

“I can’t believe this,” Pepper heaved, burying his face in his hands. “My— my soulmate is a human?”

thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed :]

reposts are appreciated <3

#g/t #g/t writing #borrowers #gt writing #gt #pepper & felix #gt romance #g/t romance #g/t soulmates

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miniscule-meow · 17 days

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Making Friends (Charlie and Felix)

Writing Masterpost Prologue | Next Part (soon) Word Count: ~6.5k Warnings: Language, Fearplay(?)

---

Charlotte took her campus tour with her map in one hand and a highlighter in the other. She took note of every building she would find her classes in. She even took herself to each classroom the day before school started, just so she knew that she knew exactly where she was supposed to be going. She was one of three students to be awarded a presidential scholarship. A full ride. An honor that is rarely bestowed upon a transfer student. AKA, the only reason she could ever even dream of coming to this school. This is the first time she won't be walking in the steps of her brothers, hiding in their shadows. She's going to forge her own name for herself here, and she isn’t going to mess this up.

Charlotte takes her seat towards the front of the modestly sized classroom. The class is small enough for heads to turn when the door opens 5 minutes after the class had begun, to watch a dark-haired boy wearing all black stroll in. But the class is large enough that the professor merely nods to him, and he’s able to take his seat without much notice. His gaze snags on Charlotte before she can look away. Instead of quickly diverting her gaze, she offers a warm smile, gesturing to the seat next to her, a friendly invitation. A grin unfurls across his lips, sharp and entirely unkind. He strides past her to take a seat somewhere in the back. His footfalls are heavy on the old tiles of the classroom, entirely too confident for someone rolling into class five minutes late. Strangely enough, she feels her cheeks warming with embarrassment.

“Now this is your first assignment, so it isn’t going to be anything crazy,” Dr. Lamont says, standing behind a worn wooden podium at the front of the room. “I have assigned partners for this project. Consider this to be a built-in icebreaker for you and your new peers. Maybe you’ll make a new friend from this assignment, in which case you can thank me later. And before you all groan too loudly, don’t worry, you will have free choice of partners for all other projects in this course.” Dr. Lamont reads down a list of names, pairing students off. Charlotte ends up being paired with Felix Westwell.

Charlotte scans the classroom to find her partner, and her heart sinks when her eyes meet with Mr. Self-Important at the back of the class. He looks vaguely annoyed as he nods a greeting to her, an acknowledgment that they will indeed be partners. Great. He’s going to make this really fun. She thinks, turning back around. Dr. Lamont finishes pairing off the rest of the class before prompting everyone to move around and get started.

Charlotte turns back around, motioning once again to the seat beside her, inviting Felix to come up and sit by her. He’s leaned back in his seat, his arm draped across the back of the chair next to him. He looks like he might prop his feet up on the desk at any moment. Judging by the lethargic tilt of his head, she can tell that he has no intention of getting up and moving seats. He simply stares back at her and tilts his hand, the smallest gesture possible to invite her to join him instead.

Fine. Sure. Since it’s obviously incredibly inconvenient for him to do it, I’ll move. Why not? She thinks bitterly, quickly packing up her things and moving to the spot next to him. Thankfully, he’s at least made some space for her by removing his arm from the back of her chair, electing to cross his arms instead.

“I’m Charlotte,” she says keeping her tone polite, in an attempt to force the sour taste of her first impression of him out of her mouth. There’s no need to stoop to his level. She’s always been a believer that a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. Just because he came in late, doesn’t seem like he cares that he’s here at all, and has an air about him that just screams I THINK I’M BETTER THAN YOU, that doesn’t mean that she’s going to get a bad grade on this project, start the semester off behind, have to work extra hard to catch up but to no avail, lose her scholarship and have to drop out of her dream school.

That’s probably not going to happen.

So, she should just be normal about this. All she can do is put her best foot forward and maybe he’ll come around. They might even become friends… or she could at least figure out where she’s seen his name before.

“Felix,” he returns evenly.

“It’s good meet you,” she says with a friendly grin. Felix’s only response is a slight quirk of his brow. His pale green eyes regard her with a look that she can only describe as ‘generally disinterested.’

They’re off to a great start.

Well, that was more than enough pleasantries for the both of them, she decides, getting out her laptop. She cracks her knuckles to try and diffuse the awkwardness she feels, before navigating the school’s website to the assignment page. “It looks like, 12 questions, each with 3 sub-sections. Each— jeez,” she adds under her breath before she reads, “each question is to be answered in a full page, double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font. Citations sourced in MLA Format,” she turns to Felix, who has made no move to get out his own computer and is instead looking at the assignment from over her shoulder. “Don’t worry, the first assignment isn’t crazy,” she says, her tone jokingly mirroring Dr. Lamont’s, “It’s just a very casual 12-page research paper. I’d hate to see what a crazy assignment looks like.” She grimaces, and Felix just hums despondently, which she takes as a sign of agreement. “Alright. So, what does your schedule look like? We can meet up to work on this together a couple times throughout the week and just knock it out,” she offers.

“I’ll just take the first six questions; you take the second six. We’ll put it together in a shared doc. It doesn’t have to be a whole deal,” he says, sounding bored.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, that works,” she feels her confidence dash down to the ground. So much for making a new friend today.

---

It made sense in theory. They had a full week to complete the assignment, each of them could do one question a day giving them one full day off from working on it. That would be the reasonable thing to do. Charlotte updates her questions, she’s completed four of them, Felix has done a whopping zero. She didn’t get his phone number to bug him about it. She supposes she could send him an e-mail about, but that seems… somehow that seems rude. Not that she thinks he would spare her any kind of courtesy if the situation was reversed. But still, she’ll see him tomorrow in class, they’ll be able to touch base then.

Of course, by tomorrow they will only have two days before the assignment is due, meaning that would be an extra three questions a day for her if she ends up having to pick up his slack. She hates group projects. She goes ahead and finishes up one extra question today, just in case.

It’s not like she has anything else to do. No, just five other classes. But whatever.

Tuesday rolls around, and she takes a seat next to him. At least he was on time today. He doesn’t make any move to broach the subject of their assignment, so she supposes it’s on her to take that step.

“If you had no intention of actually doing the assignment, I wish you would have told me. Because now, I’m going to have to do everything in two days and I hardly see how that’s fair. You might not care about this class or whatever, but I read the syllabus, and the group projects are actually worth a sizable amount of our entire grade. I really can’t afford to be playing catch-up for the entire rest of the semester because you decided that you were too good for the coursework,” she says to him in a harsh whisper.

“Good morning to you too,” His nonplussed expression makes her blood boil.

“I’m serious. I don’t know what your situation is, but I’m here on a scholarship. That’s the only reason I’m at this school. Please tell me you’re actually going to participate in this project so I can figure out if I have the time to pick up your slack or not.”

“Charlie,” he says, having apparently nicknamed her. “I’m not here to sabotage your GPA.” He turns his laptop to her, showing her a document of his questions, filled out and formatted. “I just don’t like working in shared docs. I was going to put it all in there when I was done,” he shrugs, “I’m sort of here on scholarship too, so I’ve got to be on my best behavior. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Oh. Okay.” She says, all her momentum gone, “sorry.”

The class period passes by one painful second at a time. The other groups seemed to have hit it off, as the class is filled with idle chatter while everyone works on the project. Charlie and Felix sit side by side, working on their own questions in an awkwardly tense silence. After class, Felix packs up his things with incredibly speed, and he’s out the door before she can try to embarrass herself again by asking if he wants to get lunch.

Whatever. Not everyone can be your friend.

After that, the routine becomes fairly monotonous. With the assignment turned in, there’s no need to bother Felix any further, so she goes back to taking her seat towards the front of the classroom. He goes back to sauntering in late and paying her no mind.

She doesn’t see him much aside from that.

But, she certainly hears a lot about him though. He’s garnered quite a reputation in the school’s rumor mill. Apparently, someone’s bestfriend’s brother’s cousin knew him from way back when, and they claim that Felix is a Super. That in and of itself is not entirely uncommon, but it is strange that he would be going to school in this area. Bayshear is sort of known as being one of the areas still almost entirely Mundane. So, then of course the rumor began that he was exiled from all of the Super communities. A lot of talk is centered around trying to figure out what it is that he can do, and how dangerous he might be. Charlotte is of the opinion that, either way, it’s none of her business, and though he seems pretty grumpy and standoffish, that doesn’t make him a danger to society. Some of the rumors insist that he was sent here as a spy, claiming that his ability has something to do with mind-reading or invisibility? It’s all incredibly unlikely, and she’s learned every rumor against her will. She has been approached by a handful of classmates asking about him, since she was partnered with him. She quickly was proven to be an incredibly boring person to ask about this, as she had absolutely no information, and she wasn’t particularly keen on brainstorming the hypothetical possibilities. It seems as though any conversation she tries to have with anyone loops right back into her saying, "I don't know, we did one assignment together and we didn't really talk much." Most people are much less concerned with trying to befriend her, and more concerned with trying to get information out of her. She doesn't remember making friends being quite this challenging.

It’s a few weeks later when she sees Felix in between classes in the courtyard. There are two other guys with him. She doesn’t recognize them, and at first, she feels a pit of jealousy in her stomach. So, he does have friends. What’s so wrong with her that he’s snubbed her so many times? Then she sees one of the guys turn and give him a hard shove, and she realizes with a start that they are not friends. A smarter person would have turned and walked the other way, or maybe they would have hung back and watched like some of the other students in the courtyard. Charlotte rushes forwards.

“You think you’re so tough,” the one that shoved him jeers with a fierce smirk. He’s taller than his friend, with dark short, cropped hair.

“Come on super-boy. You’ve got the whole school talking about you anyway. Lets give ‘em something real to talk about. Or what, is the big bad wolf too chicken?” The second one sneers, obviously thinking himself to be so very clever for coming up with that one, since another favored rumor about Felix seems to claim that he is some kind of... werewolf?

The rumors are truly mostly nonsense, paranoia and brain-rot. But still, seeing this immediately stokes a righteous fire inside of her, and she shoves herself in between Felix ad his nameless bullies.

“Hey, step off. Stop acting like a bunch of stupid high schoolers, and just leave him alone! Do you even hear how idiotic you sound?” She scowls up at them.

“Oh, look here. super-boy’s got himself a girlfriend,” the first boy laughs, it’s a cruel sound. On one hand, she’s succeeded in diffusing the situation between the bullies and Felix. But now, she’s placed herself right in front of the firing line. In hindsight, this might have been a bad idea. People are certainly going to talk about this. She doesn’t really care what people say about her, but still, is sacrificing her own social life really worth it for someone who obviously doesn’t even like her? This was probably something she should have thought about before she just went and acted on her gut instinct.

“Babe, one night with me and you’ll forget all about this loser,” the ‘clever’ one gives her a wink and tweaks her chin with his thumb. Charlotte slaps his hand away, her gut twisting with dread. That’s all she has time to do before Felix grabs her shoulder, pulling her back and roughly shoving her behind him. She stumbles to regain her balance, and when she looks up again, punches are already being thrown.

She takes a stagger step back as they tussle. The passive onlookers have become an active crowd around the scene. Everything is a blur of bodies, elbows, fists, voices. Until suddenly Felix shoves himself out of the circle and just takes off running. The bullies don’t pursue him, they shout after him and laugh over their victory. It seemed apparent that no superhuman abilities were utilized in that fight. Some people seem disappointed, they wanted a better show. Of course, Charlotte imagines that in a couple days the story will be so blown out of proportion, it’ll just be more unintelligible garbage.

She can hear it now, no, no dude I swear, I saw him shoot lasers from his eyes.

It was the craziest thing, he totally had super strength. He was just trying to hide it.

Blah Blah Blah.

Charlotte decides to run after Felix before anyone can turn their attention back to her.

He had run into the woods by the school. He got quite the head start, but as she’s moving through the forest, she can see the leaves and bushes ahead swaying, recently disturbed. Her lungs burn by the time the path opens up into a clearing, Felix stands in the center of it, gasping for breath himself. He whirls around as she bursts out into the open after him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He turns on her viciously, his eyes hold an all-devouring malice.

“Gah, hold on. I had to run like a mile to get here,” she huffs between breaths.

“No one made you follow me,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Do you always put yourself in the middle of fist fights, or is that just something new you wanted to try out today?”

“Those guys were jerks. I didn’t want you to get hurt,” she says a defensive air rooting in her words.

“Oh, how noble of you,” he says sarcastically. “Why should you care? At this point I honestly don’t know if you know this, but we are not friends,” he paces the clearing with a shake of his head.

“I don’t know that you need to be someone’s friend to not want them to get beaten up,” she frowns, looking at him.

With a frustrated huff he rakes a hand through his hair, pushing the dark strands away from his face. They fall back again when he removes his hand. “Sure, fine. Whatever. Why are you here now? You want to bring back more dirt for the fucking gossip column you’re running?”

“Absolutely not. I haven’t said shit about you,” she fires back defensively. “I just,” she hesitates, her reason feeling incredibly lame now. “I wanted to make sure that you’re alright?” She tears her eyes away from him, not wanting to catch the cruel glint in his eyes.

He barks a laugh, it’s a sound that is more made of frustration than any kind of amusement. “Oh, yeah,” he scoffs, “I’m doing great. There, mission accomplished. You can go now.” She brings her gaze back to his face, his eyes flash with that familiar danger, it seems to be mounting by the second now though. He’s obviously not doing great. His cheek is bleeding, and his eye is probably going to bruise. He waves a hand flippantly her way, dismissing her.

Her embarrassment and dejection are quickly shoved aside by something new. A fierce rage ignites inside her, bubbling out in her words. “Why are you so determined to be such a pompous ass?!” His brow flicks up at her outburst.

“That’s just how I am. Sorry it doesn’t match whatever you imagined me to be like in your daydreams,” that suspicious glint returns to his gaze as he regards her.

“Is it really so hard for you to believe that someone might just genuinely want to be friends with you?”

“Yes,” he responds simply, “It is actually. There is nothing keeping me from believe that you aren’t just here chasing all the rumors.” He takes on a mocking tone, “oh he’s a monster? No, I bet he’s just sad and misunderstood. He’s broken and I can fix him with the power of friendship.” Felix sneers with another roll of his eyes.

“You are so delusional,” she shakes her head, balling her hands into fists by her side. “I don’t think you need to be fixed. I just wanted—”

Before she can finish that thought, he’s crossed the clearing in just a few long strides. Her words die on her tongue as his hands clamp down over her shoulders. It very suddenly occurs to her that they are completely alone out here. Perhaps he’s every bit as dangerous as everyone would suggest. If that’s the case, maybe she shouldn’t have blindly followed him out in the middle of the woods. She really needs to start thinking these things through.

“You are impossible,” he grumbles, his voice low. He simply looms over her, he’s so close and so tall that she needs to look up for a chance to see his scowling face above her. Her body tenses as she looks at him, fear fluttering in her chest. The sense of danger is tangible now, and it causes her mind to spin, reevaluating all of the bad choices she made to bring herself here.

But something isn’t right.

She really didn’t think he was this tall. Mostly, she’s just seen him sitting, but she thought they were more equally matched where height was concerned. Obviously, she couldn’t have been more wrong because he’s standing over her now, and he’s easily two heads taller than her. Standing at 5’8”, she isn’t a short girl. So, for him to be this much taller than her, he would need to be nearly 7 feet tall. She certainly would have noticed that about him before now, right? The strangeness of this revelation twists in her gut. She notices he’s trembling fiercely, but whether that’s from anger, adrenaline, or exhaustion, she can’t say.

“I’m sure there is someone out there that would love to make friendship bracelets and bake cookies with you,” his voice takes on a saccharine tone, it’s patronizing. The tone is dropped as quickly as it was adopted, “You should go find them, because it’s not going to be me.” He turns her around and ushers her to the tree line, “This has been a lovely chat and all, but I really need you to leave. Right now.” She stumbles to a stop at the edge of the clearing and casts a curious glance over her shoulder. Why does he seem so suddenly alarmed? “Can you stop being so fucking stubborn, and just go?” The trembling in his hands has evolved to a full body tremor. There is desperation in his voice. He wants her to leave. He’s always wanted her to leave, how is this any different?

“Maybe I like being stubborn,” she says slowly, antagonizing. She leans against a tree, in no hurry to leave. She knows it’s another bad decision, but she’s made so many at this point, what’s the harm in one more. Besides, she can’t help but feel a little spiteful towards him right now.

A guttural sound escapes Felix’s throat. He glares down at her, a sheen of sweat beading on his forehead like he’s somehow undergoing a lot of physical effort. She doesn’t know if she should be curious or concerned, but she finds herself plagued with both.

“Fine,” he grits his teeth. “Give me your phone and- actually, just everything you have on you.” He holds out a shaking hand, a dreadful resolve is spread across his face.

“What? I’m not gonna just—”

“Please.” He spits the word out like it’s almost foreign to him, like it’s his last resort. “I’ll give it back to you. But it you want to stay I need—” he sucks in a gasp, his tremors are growing violent now, wracking his body, his muscles twitching.

“Alright! Alright, fine! Here,” She tosses her phone into her backpack and hands the whole thing over to him. He snatches it close to his chest and takes several steps back into the clearing. “Are you alright?” Concern breaks through her frustration, “What’s going on?”

“You’re going to want to stay back there.” It’s all the warning she gets before everything explodes.

The movement is so quick, he becomes a blur. She watches with a mix of awe and horror as he transforms right before her eyes. All of the rumors she’s heard about him flood back to her in an instant. The word werewolf springs to the forefront of her mind. For a split second her mind races trying to remember the phase of the moon. But it’s midday, that shouldn’t matter. – No that’s ridiculous. She knows exactly what’s going on. He really is a Super. One point to the rumor mill- well, half a point.

He remains human, in appearance at least. He doesn’t grow fangs or claws or sprout fur everywhere. It’s his size that changes. In the blink of an eye, he’s stretched up to taller than the surrounding trees. The sudden movement disturbs all of the surrounding birds from their perches. How tall is he? 60 feet? 80? All she knows is that from his perspective she wouldn’t be much more than doll sized. Her jaw goes slack as she looks up at him.

He is a Super after all.

Then he moves. His impossible form moves. The earth shakes in response to him, and it jars her from her thoughts. He lowers himself down slowly, his eyes trained on her. She feels the oppressive weight of his gaze smothering her, and she refuses to meet his eyes. Her mind is left spinning as she watches him drop her backpack into his shirt pocket for safe keeping. His shirt pocket. His clothes grew in size with him, transmutating from a regular garment into what must be miles of fabric.

Impossible.

He settles back against the rocky bluff that makes up the far edge of the clearing. His pale green eyes scan over her now, comparatively, miniscule form. His brow quirks up as he observes her.

“There,” he says finally, his voice a low, displeased whisper. It feels very intentional, like he knows how much louder he is at this size, and he’s choosing to be quiet. “Happy now?”

“I- You’re. Felix you… you’re…” All her words are lost, she’s trying to rationalize what she’s seeing. She’s seen Supers before, she’s no stranger to the vast myriad of powers they can manifest. But she’s never seen anything like this before. He’s truly massive.

“I know. Big surprise the rumors are true. I’m a freak. A monster. Go ahead and run. I’ll drop your things off at the lost and found for you. Go on. Off you go.” He shifts, dislodging a spray of rocks from the cliff behind him, he brushes them off his shoulder like he’s brushing away dust instead of boulders. When he looks back it’s obvious that he’s surprised she’s still there. “Aren’t you going to run?” All she can do is shake her head in response. “Aren’t you scared?” His eyes narrow, studying her as he leans forward ever so slightly.

“Of you?” She scoffs, “of course not.” She lifts her chin, crossing her arms confidently over her chest. Or at least, she hopes it appears confident. Maybe at this size, he can’t see her body trembling.

“Wow. You’re a horrible liar,” he regards her, as unamused as ever.

“Yeah?” A challenge sparks through her tone. Instead of making any kind of rational decision, she foolheartedly presses forward. Though she’s yet to bring her eyes to his, though her bones feel as though they’re made of gelatine, she forces one shaky step forward.

Then another.

She feels like she can’t help it, something about him makes her feel particularly vindictive. It bolsters her confidence and tosses her caution to the wind.

In one swift movement Felix leans forward, his hand smashing into the ground next to her, and crunching a fallen log in half beneath his palm. The vibrations are enough to topple her from her feet. His other hand comes to rest next to her other side. His forearms form thick pillars beside her. His fingers are as thick as tree trunks, they dig into the earth, rooting himself there around her. From her back on the forest floor, she finally meets his eyes. His face fills her sky, his brow is quirked in a nonplussed challenge to her.

He’s calling her bluff.

“It’s not too late to run,” he offers coolly. His eyes flicking to the edge of the trees, then back down to her. It’s more than a suggestion, and for a second, she considers it. But the thought of him watching her pick herself up off the ground and scurry away like a frightened mouse, it’s more than enough to stoke the fire of her own stubbornness.

“Why would I,” she says, finally catching her breath. “This is like, the first time you’ve said more than one thing to me since I’ve met you.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he says lifting one of his massive hands. Her breath hitches in her throat as the hand descends, pinning her against the forest floor with a single finger. The digit rests heavily against her chest, and her hands fly up to meet it. She braces against his finger, as if that would actually do anything to stop him if he decided to squish her into the dirt right now. She finds herself instantly mesmerized by how miniscule her hands look pressed against the tip of his finger.

The tip of his finger, she realizes, her insides lurching again.

She’s seen many strange things before, but this is something that her mind is simply unwilling to process.

“Your little heart is beating so fast,” he murmurs in observation, the gentle vibrations of his voice dredging her up from her spiraling thoughts. “You’re obviously terrified. Just do yourself a favor and go,” his finger lifts from her chest, “we can pretend this never happened, alright?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she asserts, propping herself up on an elbow, pulling a leaf from her hair.

“You’re ridiculous,” his face contorts into an incredulous expression above her.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” she doubles down, gritting her teeth and shooting a challenging glare to the giant filling her sky.

“Yeah?” His expression sharpens, “You want to play, then? Let’s go. Come ‘ere.” With that, his massive hand swoops in once more.

Her whole body is scooped up, and she’s whisked off the ground as though she weighed nothing. The movement is so fast, she feels as though a part of her has been left behind on the forest floor. She can’t stifle the shriek as it escapes her. One moment she was safe on solid ground, and one blink later, she finds herself dangling from his fingers. She scrambles to find some kind of secure purchase, but there’s nothing, it’s just empty sky around her and a long, long way down.

“Felix!” He has her hoisted up above him, dangling above his head.

“Oh, come on. You just said you weren’t afraid of anything,” His shit-eating grin would typically irritate her, but she’s too busy looking at the ground below, her vision swimming.

“I- It’s- I just—” words escape her, thought escapes her.

“Wow. I haven’t even done anything yet. Just admit you’re scared, and we can be done here.”

“Never,” she manages to spit the word out. Her stubbornness roots inside her like talons. A horrible, mischievous grin spreads across his face.

"Hmm. Careful with how you’re squirming like that. You wouldn’t want to slip,” his tone is teasing.

“Felix, that’s- that’s really not funny.”

“Oh? What’s that? Are you afraid I’ll drop you?”

“No. You wouldn’t. I know you wouldn’t,” She tears her gaze from the ground to look him in the eyes.

“You don’t know shit,” he says simply. And with that, his fingers release from around her and she plummets towards the ground. She only freefalls for a moment, before his other hand appears under her. She quickly rights herself into a sitting position, held in his palm. It doesn’t feel terribly secure, but it’s better than where she was before. She gasps for air, quickly drawing her knees in close, and placing a hand against her chest, as if trying to control her racing heart.

She can’t catch her breath. She knows she’s panicking. Her heart is hammering so fast, it’s like it’s trying to just break from her ribcage and leave her alone with all of the consequences of her own actions. She sucks in uneven, stuttered breathes, all too aware of the massive scowl hanging over her, the scrutinous eyes taking her in. There is nowhere for her to hide from him. He is everywhere around her. She blinks rapidly, praying the tears in her eyes won’t fall.

She couldn’t possibly embarrass herself any more.

“If that really wasn’t enough for you—” He starts, his hand beginning to shift around her once more.

“No! No, wait! Okay, I’m scared, alright? Please stop!” Her voice breaks pathetically. The motion around her pauses as he blinks down at her for a second. Then, she’s moving again. Much, much too fast for her liking. She bites back another yelp as his palm drops, lowering her back to the ground. She’s tipped from his palm, and before she can even really register what’s happening, Felix is standing in front of her, back to his regular height, looking particularly smug, knowing he's won.

“Fuck, dude,” she breathes shakily, composing herself, and quickly wiping her eyes.

“You’re fine,” He mumbles as he drops her backpack down next to her.

“I think you enjoyed that way too much,” she collects her things, and rises on quivering legs.

“Yeah. Probably,” he shrugs and steps away from her, heading towards the edge of the clearing with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“H-hey! Wait!” She quickly trots after him.

He sighs heavily, “Charlotte. Why are you so insistent on befriending the local resident monster?”

“Easy. I don’t think you’re a monster,” she scrunches her nose up at the word.

“Really?” He stops, and turns to face her, “after all that? You were literally crying two seconds ago.”

She just shrugs, “it could have been worse.”

“You are impossibly stubborn,” he rolls his eyes, and tuns to walk off again.

“Well, so are you! Why are you so insistent on being a total loner?”

“Maybe I just don’t like you! Is that so hard for you to believe?” He says with a huff.

“You don’t even know me!” She shouts back at him.

“And you don’t know me. We should keep it that way!” He raises his voice to match her energy.

“Alright! Fine. Whatever. Just live in your ‘woe is me, the world is out to get me’ delusions then! All I’ve done is try to be nice to you, and you just have the most frustrating attitude! Why did you even come to this school. There are plenty of schools out there for Supers. You picked one that’s like, entirely Mundane. This place is like a ghost town. I’m pretty sure most people that go here have never even met a C-tier Super before.”

He stops so quickly, she almost stumbles right into him, “oh, and what, you’re some kind of expert on Supers?”

“Ooh, sorry,” she lets go of a frustrated laugh, “I can’t answer that, that would involve us learning something about one another!”

They lock eyes. Stuck in a stalemate of stubbornness.

“You’re being so dramatic,” he grumbles.

“Maybe I am!” She knows he’s curious, but she’s not going to give him any more information. She tries to step around him, but he blocks her path.

“Charlie,” his tone is clipped. She realizes with a start that he’s standing a head taller than her. She scowls up at him.

“Oh, sure Felix. Get all big and intimidating! What are you going to do, become gigantic and force me to talk?”

“No!” He says frustrated, she gets the impression that he didn’t really intend to grow just then. His emotions must have a pretty strong effect on his abilities. “No,” he takes a breath to calm himself down, “Look. You seem to have some kind of experience with supers. I at least want to know that much about you.”

“Apologize to me,” she huffs.

“What?” He blinks, taken aback by this.

“You were really mean, and I want you to say that you’re sorry.”

“Oh my god. Fine. Charlotte, I’m sorry, alright. I’m a total jerk, and I’m sorry.” He says, waiting for her to go ahead and tell him what he wants to know. She looks at him for a moment before speaking.

“I think you should answer some of my questions first, and then I will forgive you.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s only fair.”

“Alright, whatever. What do you want, my life story?” He says with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

“It can be the abridged version,” she gives him a self-satisfied grin.

He groans, stomping over to a large rock that’s off the path, taking a seat on it. He gestures beside him, obviously annoyed. She takes a seat next to him.

“I’ve had my ability since like, the third grade. I was an only child, and my parents are Mundane. They didn’t know what to do with me, so they just sent me off to a boarding school for Supers. They had another kid after that and he’s normal, or whatever. I haven’t seen much of any of them since, like, middle school.”

“Oh my gosh? That’s –”

“I don’t want your pity,” he continues without missing a beat, “Anyway, my ability was really lame the entire time I was there. Like my max height was, I don’t know, like, a generous ten feet? So, they recommended I just go to college with the Mundanes. I went to Lynwell for like one semester, and surprise, surprise, my ability suddenly developed into, well, you saw. So, that got flagged and, well, I…. I was at Rosehill but…” he hesitates, furrowing his brow, “Long story short, I decided to just transfer here because,” he pauses again before shaking his head, “I don’t know. I’m here now. Life story over, the end.” He finishes quickly, obviously unwilling to tell her any more than that. “Your turn.”

“Oh! My brothers go to Rosehill,” She says, and Felix’s eyes widen. “Would they know you?” she asks curiously.

“I… I really hope not. Your brothers are Supers then?” Some of the color has drained from his face, he looks much more tentative now. She makes a mental note of this. She’ll have to ask her brothers about him.

“Yeah. I’ve got four older brothers, and all of them are Supers. We’re from East Springs,” Felix quirks his brow in recognition. Everyone’s heard of East Springs, it’s one of the ‘Big Five,’ cities that are major hubs for Super activity.

“Oh. And you...?” He trails off, leaving her to finish the thought for him.

“Nope,” she answers, “But, I went to Super schools until my sophomore year. After that, it became obvious that I wasn’t going to snap into any abilities, so I got transferred to a small Mundane school. Now I’m here.”

“Why here?”

“Well. Mostly the scholarships, but the science program here is actually really top notch. Oh and, my family thought it would be better for me to hang out with other Mundanes for once… jokes on them, I guess. Anyway. Thank you for humoring me. I forgive you for being a total jerk, I'll try to just stay out of your way in the future.”

“I really am sorry, about… everything," he says, his voice taking on a more genuine tone.

“Don’t worry about it,” she grins, as carefree as ever. “Oh. I won't tell anyone about your abilities, by the way.”

“I don’t care. Just another rumor to add to the pile.”

“Okay, well I care,” She frowns. The rumors are just clinging to the assumption that Felix is a Super. A correct assumption, but still. She can imagine all of the same crazy things being said about her brothers too. It just rubs her the wrong way. “Anyway, we don’t have to be friends, but I’m not here to sabotage your social life. You seem to be doing a perfectly fine job of that on your own,” her mouth pulls into a teasing smirk. Felix rolls his eyes.

“Whatever,” He adds after a pause, “I’ll see you around, Charlie.”

She blinks at him for just a second, before nodding and walking down the trail back to the campus on her own.

#charlie and felix #g/t #g/t writing #g/t story #my writing

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