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saysthemagpieOK AND PART THREE! (previous parts: barry POV/general plot outline is here, part 1 of the niall POV/outline is here, part 2 is here.) content warnings in this section for description of a panic attack.
Niall’s been living rough for a week since the storm. He doesn’t go to the police because he’s pretty sure the guy was telling the truth about having influence there, and he doesn’t want to be arrested or handed over to the guy. the money runs out fast, though, and he’s hungry and cold and scared. Maybe he sees a female prostitute on the street somewhere and he thinks, I could do that, maybe, because hasn’t he been doing it already, hasn’t he been whoring himself out to this rich old guy for nice clothes and presents and a roof over his head. So he starts hanging around places where he thinks maybe he could pick someone up, trying to look available.
Maybe the first night he doesn’t have much luck, loitering around. Or maybe he does pull, but he fucks it up somehow. He’s so nervous he feels sick to his stomach, and as soon as he gets into the guy’s car he starts feeling super claustrophobic, like the walls were closing in on him. He can’t stop thinking about how it could all go wrong—what if the guy just turns the car on and drives off with him, locks the doors so he can’t get out, what if he takes Niall somewhere and kills him and dumps his body in a ditch by the side of the road. He tries to keep a lid on his panic, but for some reason he can’t shove it down like he normally does—maybe it’s because now he knows that somebody could do that to him, and he keeps hearing the rich guy’s voice in his head, telling him that nobody would even miss him, nobody would even come looking for him. Then the john starts acting really fucking weird, like he’s drunk or on drugs or something—he’d seemed normal when Niall got into the car, but all of a sudden he’s breathing weird and his pupils are weirdly dilated, his skin all cold and clammy.
Niall’s properly panicking now, freaking the fuck out, and he’s like, “Let me out, let me the fuck out,” but the door won’t open at first because of the automatic locks. And the guy’s acting really weird—he’s not trying to get at Niall, he’s just kinda whimpering to himself, saying, “Make it stop, make it stop,” and then he throws up. Niall finally manages to get the door unlocked. He shoves it open, tumbling out onto the pavement, then scrambles to his feet as fast as he can and just takes off. He runs and runs, till his knees are aching and his lungs are burning and he’s in some part of the city he doesn’t recognize. He’s too terrified to go back to the alleyway where he’d been sleeping, in case the john’s still there, so he ducks into a 24-hour McDonalds and orders the cheapest thing on the menu, pays with the last of his money—fuck, fuck, he should’ve made the guy pay first, he’s such a fucking idiot—and goes upstairs to the second floor, sits way in the very back away from the windows, so nobody on the street can see in. Thankfully it’s deserted up there and nobody comes near him, and he can start to slowly, slowly calm himself down, taking deep gulping breaths,
He doesn’t want to do it again the next night, but he’s so, so hungry, and his hoodie smells like the grease from the McDonalds and his stomach won’t stop grumbling. There’s soup kitchens and homeless shelters, he thinks, but he doesn’t know where they are or how he’s supposed to get to them, and what if they have to keep some kind of registry or something, what if they turn him over to the police and the guy finds him. So he talks himself up to going back out again, tells himself that this time he won’t get in anybody’s car, he’ll just—wait till someone comes along on foot, or something. This time he tries a completely different part of town, a seedy area that’s near a bunch of nightclubs, because he figures people won’t be driving but they might be looking for company.
He’s only been there about twenty minutes when a boy comes up and starts talking to him. At first Niall’s wary. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to pull him, but he can’t figure out what else this boy would want from him. The boy’s got a tough-looking face, but his eyes are friendly. He’s Irish, too: the strong Dublin accent’s different from what Niall’s used to, but it makes him homesick to hear it. He starts to relax, just a fraction, and as soon as he does the boy tells him—still friendly, but firm—that Niall had better move along if he’s working, and Niall’s like, oh. It shouldn’t disappoint him so much. Shouldn’t feel faintly crushing, the fact that this friendly stranger isn’t really being friendly. Niall pushes the feeling down, though. He ducks his head to conceal the flush in his cheeks, mumbling some apology. Then, because the boy’s obviously waiting for him to leave, he turns and starts walking away. He’s not sure where he’s going. Not sure why he’s suddenly so close to tears, either—it’s never been this hard before, keeping a handle on his feelings, and he hates that he can’t seem to get himself under control. Maybe it’s just that he’s never felt so small and utterly alone, so powerless.
That’s when the car pulls up alongside him.
Niall recognizes it instantly, even before the dark-tinted window rolls smoothly down. His heartbeat kicks up, his whole body tensing, but when he sees the rich old guy’s face it’s like—he just knows. He knows how this is going to end. Maybe it’s pointless trying to fight it. He’s never going to be able to run fast enough, far enough. And the guy’s right, isn’t he: nobody cares what happens to him. Nobody’s going to look after him, or keep him safe and fed. He thinks about that john in the car, how the guy had seemed normal enough and then things had gotten so scary so fast. Maybe the devil you know's better.
TBC!!!!!!! i realize i didn't actually advance the plot at all, just went back and approached the same scene from a different angle, but oh well!!!!! im having fun!
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Date: 2017-11-05 12:18 am (UTC)ALSO assuming what happens next is barry swooping in and "saving" niall (does the abuser dude back down when there's an audience? or does he not care when the audience is just another street kid clearly out there selling himself?), does barry invite niall back to his once it becomes clear that niall has nowhere to go? i'm trying to imagine how this scene goes down, because i think barry would also be pretty closed-off as far as personal details, but he can see that niall's got no clue what he's doing, and up close has tell-tale hygiene issues that come from being obviously homeless. so maybe barry offers his couch, just casual, but if niall accepts he doesnt know what the price will be... like, what sexual favors is barry expecting in return? or money? or for niall to sleep with someone else? i want all the details of them starting a tentative friendship and feeling out if they can trust each other!!!
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Date: 2017-11-06 05:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-07 02:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-05 06:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-05 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-05 05:06 pm (UTC)Also I need to know whether barry’s getting hit with niall’s emotions or whether his power makes him immune somehow???
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Date: 2017-11-06 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-11-18 02:50 pm (UTC)Also, I love that you're doing an Misfits au, that was such an interesting show!
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Date: 2017-11-19 11:11 pm (UTC)