[AU][Age Swap] The Woman In Apartment 302
- Thread starter YseultNott
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Sweet, Dear Armsmaster
- Pronouns
- He/Him
He goes back to the warehouse. Psyche is there.
Carrie Murray isn't.
"Kid!" Psyche says. "What happened?"
Armsmaster, he wants to say. Armsmaster, not "kid".
The name feels bitter, unearned, and the words die in his throat.
"She's dead," he says instead. He feels dead, too. Cold and clear and numb like a statue of glass.
"Murray?" Psyche asks. "What?"
"Mullen," he says. "Tamara Mullen. Sweet, dear Tamara. Murray said Seethe was going to kill her, and I went in case she wasn't lying, but she was already dead and…"
"You went after Seethe?" Psyche says, voice rising, painfully high. "Are you hurt?"
He shakes his head.
"No," he says. "No, she was already in the truck and I couldn't catch her and now she's going to kill people again and it's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault."
He's rambling. He's rambling and crying and why is he crying? Glass doesn't cry. It's fragile and weak and pathetic but it doesn't cry.
(He wishes he could be steel instead, like the armor around him and the Sword in his hand. Cold and numb and unfeeling, but strong, able to protect, able to fight back, able to do something.)
"Kid," Psyche says again, voice horribly soft, and he is a kid isn't he? A dumb, stupid, useless kid.
Psyche reaches out to him, careful, hesitant, like he will break in a million pieces if she treats him wrong, and her pity feels heavy, suffocating.
For the third time that night, he runs.
Carrie Murray isn't.
"Kid!" Psyche says. "What happened?"
Armsmaster, he wants to say. Armsmaster, not "kid".
The name feels bitter, unearned, and the words die in his throat.
"She's dead," he says instead. He feels dead, too. Cold and clear and numb like a statue of glass.
"Murray?" Psyche asks. "What?"
"Mullen," he says. "Tamara Mullen. Sweet, dear Tamara. Murray said Seethe was going to kill her, and I went in case she wasn't lying, but she was already dead and…"
"You went after Seethe?" Psyche says, voice rising, painfully high. "Are you hurt?"
He shakes his head.
"No," he says. "No, she was already in the truck and I couldn't catch her and now she's going to kill people again and it's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault."
He's rambling. He's rambling and crying and why is he crying? Glass doesn't cry. It's fragile and weak and pathetic but it doesn't cry.
(He wishes he could be steel instead, like the armor around him and the Sword in his hand. Cold and numb and unfeeling, but strong, able to protect, able to fight back, able to do something.)
"Kid," Psyche says again, voice horribly soft, and he is a kid isn't he? A dumb, stupid, useless kid.
Psyche reaches out to him, careful, hesitant, like he will break in a million pieces if she treats him wrong, and her pity feels heavy, suffocating.
For the third time that night, he runs.
Archivist Grim
Totally not AI
- Location
- The abyss
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They
Oh boy, looks like Colin is collecting up all that juicy emotional baggage, won't that have far-reaching consequences
Five bucks that it's all resolved with a pep talk
Cold Comfort
- Pronouns
- He/Him
At dawn, when Colin goes home, Taylor is already there.
"I thought you would be home later," Colin says.
He feels strange. Emptied out, like someone had come and scooped out his insides with one of those spherical ice cream spoons, the leftover parts so thin and so raw they would shatter at the first blow.
Taylor wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be able to go to his room and go to bed and…
No one was supposed to see him.
"Something came up," Taylor says. "I had to cut things short."
She pauses. Behind her, Athena paces in her cage.
Colin wonders if she feels trapped.
"You look upset," Taylor says, and he opens his mouth to say I'm fine, but a sob comes out instead, and he bursts into tears in the middle of the living room.
Things are a bit confused after that. He remembers talking, rambling, words spilling out about trying and failing and how things were supposed to be better now.
He remembers Taylor, pulling him to the couch, putting a blanket around his shoulders. The nice one. The heavy one, like he imagines a hug feels like.
He remembers Taylor, sitting on the couch beside him, telling him how she wishes she could have helped him. How she wishes things could have gone differently.
He remembers Taylor putting her arms around him, stilted and awkward and nothing like TV or the parents of his classmates when they got out of school.
Despite the guilt and the anger, it's the safest he's ever felt.
"I thought you would be home later," Colin says.
He feels strange. Emptied out, like someone had come and scooped out his insides with one of those spherical ice cream spoons, the leftover parts so thin and so raw they would shatter at the first blow.
Taylor wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be able to go to his room and go to bed and…
No one was supposed to see him.
"Something came up," Taylor says. "I had to cut things short."
She pauses. Behind her, Athena paces in her cage.
Colin wonders if she feels trapped.
"You look upset," Taylor says, and he opens his mouth to say I'm fine, but a sob comes out instead, and he bursts into tears in the middle of the living room.
Things are a bit confused after that. He remembers talking, rambling, words spilling out about trying and failing and how things were supposed to be better now.
He remembers Taylor, pulling him to the couch, putting a blanket around his shoulders. The nice one. The heavy one, like he imagines a hug feels like.
He remembers Taylor, sitting on the couch beside him, telling him how she wishes she could have helped him. How she wishes things could have gone differently.
He remembers Taylor putting her arms around him, stilted and awkward and nothing like TV or the parents of his classmates when they got out of school.
Despite the guilt and the anger, it's the safest he's ever felt.
punster lv1
Killjoy - cheerful shitposter - ignorant pedant
Well, at least he got to experience the real thing tonight. That has to count for something.
evagrimm
#narcolepsyproblems
- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Right? What a heartbreaking line! It really shows why he triggered and why he ran...
Called it
A Matter of Worth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
When Colin sees Psyche again two nights later, neither of them mentions Carrie Murray's escape, and neither of them brings up the death of Tamara Mullen.
Colin is mostly glad for it.
He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't…
He wants to be better.
He was supposed to be better. He has powers now, he's not some stupid, helpless child anymore, he can make tools, weapons, he can fight, he can…
He can't even make a fucking bike.
"Kid?" Psyche asks.
Not Armsmaster. Never Armsmaster.
He hasn't earned it yet.
Colin goes to his workshop, to the room he claimed for himself in an empty building, and he works scraps and wires until he bleeds his fingers raw.
Colin is mostly glad for it.
He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't…
He wants to be better.
He was supposed to be better. He has powers now, he's not some stupid, helpless child anymore, he can make tools, weapons, he can fight, he can…
He can't even make a fucking bike.
"Kid?" Psyche asks.
Not Armsmaster. Never Armsmaster.
He hasn't earned it yet.
Colin goes to his workshop, to the room he claimed for himself in an empty building, and he works scraps and wires until he bleeds his fingers raw.
Bleeding Heart
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"It's three in the afternoon," Taylor says, and Colin hastily shoves the bloody cotton pads he was using to clean his fingers under the bathroom sink.
"I thought you were at work," he says once his heart has slowed back down to a normal rate.
"I ran into a few issues," she says. A fly is hitting against the window, again and again, the buzzing almost unbearable. "A problem with competition. There wasn't anything more I could do today so I went home early."
"Okay," Colin says, because he has to say something. "You told me you worked in security, right?"
Something to do with computers, he thinks. Debugging, or something like that.
"Yes," Taylor said.
She pauses. The fly keeps hammering itself at the window.
"You're usually working on your online classes when you're here in the afternoon," she finally says. "It's been a few days since I last saw you do that."
Oh.
Colin hasn't really thought about it since… Since Carrie Murray's escape. He had other priorities.
"I lost my phone," he says.
Taylor nods, once.
"I'll get you a new one," she says.
She gives him a box of band-aids.
"I thought you were at work," he says once his heart has slowed back down to a normal rate.
"I ran into a few issues," she says. A fly is hitting against the window, again and again, the buzzing almost unbearable. "A problem with competition. There wasn't anything more I could do today so I went home early."
"Okay," Colin says, because he has to say something. "You told me you worked in security, right?"
Something to do with computers, he thinks. Debugging, or something like that.
"Yes," Taylor said.
She pauses. The fly keeps hammering itself at the window.
"You're usually working on your online classes when you're here in the afternoon," she finally says. "It's been a few days since I last saw you do that."
Oh.
Colin hasn't really thought about it since… Since Carrie Murray's escape. He had other priorities.
"I lost my phone," he says.
Taylor nods, once.
"I'll get you a new one," she says.
She gives him a box of band-aids.
Scrambled Moms
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Colin is woken up by a knock on the door.
Ten in the morning. He overslept.
Fuck.
Another knock. Right. Taylor is at work. He should probably answer himself.
"Can I talk to your mom?" the man in the door asks, and for a second, Colin feels like he's falling.
They found him. They found him, and now they're going to send him back to his father's house and he's going to be trapped again, to be helpless again, a useless child in an empty house with a father who isn't there, always behind, always playing catch up, no scrambled eggs in the morning and no audiobooks to fall asleep to and…
"Kid?" the man says, and Colin realizes that he didn't mean his real mother.
He thinks Colin is Taylor's son.
"She's not here," Colin says.
She's not my mom, he doesn't say, because it hits him, suddenly, that he doesn't know what Taylor told his neighbors about him. That he doesn't know how she explained the teenager coming to live with her.
"Right," the man says. "Err, I'm Carl Owens, the landlord. Can you tell her I came by when she gets back? We need to do some maintenance on the wiring, so the power will be off this afternoon. Also means the electronic lock will be off on the front door."
Maybe Taylor told them he was her son.
"I'll tell her," Colin says.
Colin has a mother. He talked to her on the phone last Christmas. She was visiting Niagara falls. Or maybe it was last year, and it was Death Valley this time. It's a bit hard to keep track. He hasn't seen her much since the divorce.
(He can't remember if she ever made him scrambled eggs.)
Ten in the morning. He overslept.
Fuck.
Another knock. Right. Taylor is at work. He should probably answer himself.
"Can I talk to your mom?" the man in the door asks, and for a second, Colin feels like he's falling.
They found him. They found him, and now they're going to send him back to his father's house and he's going to be trapped again, to be helpless again, a useless child in an empty house with a father who isn't there, always behind, always playing catch up, no scrambled eggs in the morning and no audiobooks to fall asleep to and…
"Kid?" the man says, and Colin realizes that he didn't mean his real mother.
He thinks Colin is Taylor's son.
"She's not here," Colin says.
She's not my mom, he doesn't say, because it hits him, suddenly, that he doesn't know what Taylor told his neighbors about him. That he doesn't know how she explained the teenager coming to live with her.
"Right," the man says. "Err, I'm Carl Owens, the landlord. Can you tell her I came by when she gets back? We need to do some maintenance on the wiring, so the power will be off this afternoon. Also means the electronic lock will be off on the front door."
Maybe Taylor told them he was her son.
"I'll tell her," Colin says.
Colin has a mother. He talked to her on the phone last Christmas. She was visiting Niagara falls. Or maybe it was last year, and it was Death Valley this time. It's a bit hard to keep track. He hasn't seen her much since the divorce.
(He can't remember if she ever made him scrambled eggs.)
evagrimm
#narcolepsyproblems
- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This chapter paints such a story. The hope that Taylor might have called him her son, a desire he can't even voice to himself in the privacy of his own head, but made so perfectly clear by the end.
A Nice Evening Together
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Taylor said she would be home around six in the afternoon, and Colin decided to surprise her with dinner.
There isn't any particular reason. He just feels like it. And the power is still off, so it's not like either of them can do anything fancy.
At five thirty, just as he finishes cutting the crust off the sandwiches, the door of the apartment opens.
Shit. Fuck. He hasn't had time to prepare the salad yet.
"You're early," Colin says, and he puts the knife down and steps out of the kitchen to greet her, and then stops himself short, because Carrie Murray is standing in Taylor's living room.
"You left your phone," she says cheerfully. "I thought I would give it back!"
The Knife is in Colin's bag, in his shoulder bag in his room under his bed, and it's far, far away, too far to try and run and get it, and maybe he could step back, go back in the kitchen, grab one of Taylor's knives, the one he put on the table, maybe…
He doesn't think it would be enough. He doesn't think he could get it in time.
The door closes with a bang, and Carrie Murray, smiling, has a gun.
There isn't any particular reason. He just feels like it. And the power is still off, so it's not like either of them can do anything fancy.
At five thirty, just as he finishes cutting the crust off the sandwiches, the door of the apartment opens.
Shit. Fuck. He hasn't had time to prepare the salad yet.
"You're early," Colin says, and he puts the knife down and steps out of the kitchen to greet her, and then stops himself short, because Carrie Murray is standing in Taylor's living room.
"You left your phone," she says cheerfully. "I thought I would give it back!"
The Knife is in Colin's bag, in his shoulder bag in his room under his bed, and it's far, far away, too far to try and run and get it, and maybe he could step back, go back in the kitchen, grab one of Taylor's knives, the one he put on the table, maybe…
He doesn't think it would be enough. He doesn't think he could get it in time.
The door closes with a bang, and Carrie Murray, smiling, has a gun.
- Location
- Somewhere with a Thousand Watchful Eyes
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Countdown 'till destruction by bugs: 10... 9... 8...
Oh lordy dooly! I just hope Colin comes out of this without getting shot.
You know, I have this strange suspicion that Taylor may not be Psyche. Between the 'dark clouds' and everything being loud and her claim to help people...
I'm thinking she may be Seethe.
I'm thinking she may be Seethe.
Someone Dies In This Chapter
- Pronouns
- He/Him
She makes him walk into the bathroom, and she takes a plastic razor from the closet over the sink, easily popping out the blade.
"Run yourself a nice warm bath, kid," she says.
She's going to kill him. She's going to kill him or make him kill himself, she's going to kill him, Taylor is going to come home and he will be dead like Tamara Mullen, a pale corpse and bloody tiles.
"Hurry up, kid," Carrie Murray says. "I'm getting bored over here."
Colin moves his hand toward the faucet, eyes still fixed on her, refusing to look away.
He's not a coward.
Behind her, in the living room, he can see flies hitting at the window, again and again, desperately trying to get through.
Colin's hand closes around the shower head.
He's going to die either way. He refuses to let it be without a fight.
He swings the shower head at her.
He misses.
He misses, and the gun is cold against his skin.
He misses, and Carrie Murray falls anyway, screaming.
Athena is biting at her neck.
There are far too many flies, buzzing, whirring, white noise and vertigo and a dead woman in a back alley, there are spiders and bugs crawling over Mullen, over Murray, maggots and worms eating at her, and…
"Colin, are you hurt?" Taylor asks.
Her hair is full of flies.
"I came as fast as I could," Seethe says.
"Run yourself a nice warm bath, kid," she says.
She's going to kill him. She's going to kill him or make him kill himself, she's going to kill him, Taylor is going to come home and he will be dead like Tamara Mullen, a pale corpse and bloody tiles.
"Hurry up, kid," Carrie Murray says. "I'm getting bored over here."
Colin moves his hand toward the faucet, eyes still fixed on her, refusing to look away.
He's not a coward.
Behind her, in the living room, he can see flies hitting at the window, again and again, desperately trying to get through.
Colin's hand closes around the shower head.
He's going to die either way. He refuses to let it be without a fight.
He swings the shower head at her.
He misses.
He misses, and the gun is cold against his skin.
He misses, and Carrie Murray falls anyway, screaming.
Athena is biting at her neck.
There are far too many flies, buzzing, whirring, white noise and vertigo and a dead woman in a back alley, there are spiders and bugs crawling over Mullen, over Murray, maggots and worms eating at her, and…
"Colin, are you hurt?" Taylor asks.
Her hair is full of flies.
"I came as fast as I could," Seethe says.
- Location
- USA
Oh no, things are going to go down
evagrimm
#narcolepsyproblems
- Location
- US
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Tfw you see the potential for heartbreak coming, and you desperately hope and pray it doesn't happen, and it kicks down the door.
Oh Colin...
The Queen In Her Castle High
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Taylor stands in the living room of her apartment and Colin stands in the bathroom over white tiles and Carrie Murray's corpse.
His Knife is still in his bedroom.
It's Taylor. It's Taylor. She makes him scrambled eggs and takes him shopping and asks how his night went and she gave him a hug, she let him fall asleep to her audio books, it's Taylor, he trusts her, why…
Why does he want the Knife?
Why does he want the Knife, and his armor and his sword, why does he…
Athena crawls up Taylor's leg, over her arm, her shoulder, over the side of her face, settles in her hair like a chitinous crown.
"I don't want to hurt you," Taylor says, like she said she wished she could have helped, like she said she wished Tamara Mullen didn't have to die.
It's Taylor.
He doesn't want to fight her.
He doesn't think he can.
"Please let me go," Colin says.
Taylor, standing in the doorway, doesn't move.
"Taylor, please," Colin says. Asks. Begs.
She doesn't move. A second goes by. Two. A hundred thousand billion years.
Taylor steps aside. Taylor steps aside, and Colin walks toward her. Toward the door. Toward…
Colin leaves.
His Knife is still in his bedroom.
It's Taylor. It's Taylor. She makes him scrambled eggs and takes him shopping and asks how his night went and she gave him a hug, she let him fall asleep to her audio books, it's Taylor, he trusts her, why…
Why does he want the Knife?
Why does he want the Knife, and his armor and his sword, why does he…
Athena crawls up Taylor's leg, over her arm, her shoulder, over the side of her face, settles in her hair like a chitinous crown.
"I don't want to hurt you," Taylor says, like she said she wished she could have helped, like she said she wished Tamara Mullen didn't have to die.
It's Taylor.
He doesn't want to fight her.
He doesn't think he can.
"Please let me go," Colin says.
Taylor, standing in the doorway, doesn't move.
"Taylor, please," Colin says. Asks. Begs.
She doesn't move. A second goes by. Two. A hundred thousand billion years.
Taylor steps aside. Taylor steps aside, and Colin walks toward her. Toward the door. Toward…
Colin leaves.
Poor Colin. I think he needs some time to think, and maybe hugs. Lots of love and help to process this, certainly.
Archivist Grim
Totally not AI
- Location
- The abyss
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They
Oh boy, that's a wonderful way to learn that your caretaker is a super villain, that probably controls most of Broktons underworld
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The Fly and the Looking Glass
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Colin goes to see Psyche.
(She's not Taylor.)
He doesn't have anywhere else to go.
He doesn't know what to do.
He tried going back to his workshop, put his armor on, get his sword, but he…
(He doesn't feel safe there.)
He remembers there being flies there, and he wonders, now, if Taylor didn't know. If she wasn't there, watching, if she didn't know what he had been trying to do when she put her arms around his shoulders and said words of support, when she comforted him for the death of someone she killed herself, when…
She saved him. She took him in and she saved him and she killed for him and is he supposed to be thankful?
He thought she cared about him. He's not sure what would be worse. If she doesn't, or if she does?
"Kid?" Psyche asks.
She sounds concerned. Wonderfully, horribly concerned.
"She's Seethe," Colin says. "My… Taylor. The woman I live… lived with. She's Seethe. She killed Murray."
Psyche stares, quiet.
In the silence, Colin can hear a buzzing fly.
(She's not Taylor.)
He doesn't have anywhere else to go.
He doesn't know what to do.
He tried going back to his workshop, put his armor on, get his sword, but he…
(He doesn't feel safe there.)
He remembers there being flies there, and he wonders, now, if Taylor didn't know. If she wasn't there, watching, if she didn't know what he had been trying to do when she put her arms around his shoulders and said words of support, when she comforted him for the death of someone she killed herself, when…
She saved him. She took him in and she saved him and she killed for him and is he supposed to be thankful?
He thought she cared about him. He's not sure what would be worse. If she doesn't, or if she does?
"Kid?" Psyche asks.
She sounds concerned. Wonderfully, horribly concerned.
"She's Seethe," Colin says. "My… Taylor. The woman I live… lived with. She's Seethe. She killed Murray."
Psyche stares, quiet.
In the silence, Colin can hear a buzzing fly.