Post by Reese Fletcher on Mar 5, 2014 8:08:35 GMT -5
[presto]
TWENTY-FOUR
MALE
WRITER
MUGGLEBORN
BISEXUAL
MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER
REESE AARON FLETCHER
 Everybody, meet Reese. His story begins well before his birth—some twenty-seven years, in fact—and is all due to a chance meeting between Gideon Fletcher and Mae Islington. Mae had been fourteen when she met Gideon for the first time, and had promptly fallen in love with him from the get go. Her feelings were not quite returned, what with Gideon falling over himself trying to impress her cousin Aoife, through whom Mae had first come into contact with Gideon. Aoife had been throwing her seventeenth birthday party when Mae had arrived back from holiday in Spain, intending to gush all about her experiences to her older, sophisticated cousin, and instead finding herself arriving into a whirlwind of commotion. Naturally feeling somewhat out of place, yet not wanting to leave for hope of something exciting occurring, Mae had quickly made her way to the sidelines. She had been quite surprised to come across an attractive boy who seemed almost as out of place as she did; as if he had a purpose, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. It had taken approximately thirteen minutes for her to extract from him his infatuation with Aoife and only seven minutes for Mae to develop one of her own on this boy. Gideon Fletcher was tall, lithe and possessed an artful mess of tawny hair. To the fourteen year old Mae, he was every dream boy come to life. His sarcasm was well-timed, his wit apparent and his smiles rare yet worthwhile; when one was being directed towards her, she felt like the only girl in the world. Unfortunately for her, in Gideon's eyes, that position belonged to her cousin Aoife. Aoife Laurent was a sharp-tongued flirt the size of a fairy, sporting a pixie cut and the brightest blue eyes you'd ever seen. The same age as Gideon, she had known him for years, and he was only one of the gaggle of males she had pining after her. Aoife dreamed of New York City, bright lights and smoke mingling with the stars. Far too sophisticated for their hometown, Aoife had seemed ethereal compared to the rest of the town's inhabitants, like a wisp of smoke or a fading dream. The Irish lilt, inherited from her father, only served to make her voice more entrancing; she was a crowd favourite down at the pub on the occasional nights when she'd treat them all to a song. To Mae, she was the ideal of what to be, yet to Aoife, she was never enough and always wanted to be more and to have more. A few months after her party, Aoife disappeared. Mae was devastated. After the investigation was closed with no result, the common theory was that she'd finally run off to New York to strike her fortune and fame—even her family endorsed the view. Mae, however, could never shake the sinking feeling that something awful had happened to Aoife. Gideon had other ideas. He became bitter and cynical, lashing out at random intervals with snarky comments and closing up entirely whenever anyone brought up Aoife Laurent with him. Everyone, that is, except Mae. On another off chance, she'd crashed into him at a coffee shop, both of their attentions caught by a flyer asking for information about Aoife. The investigation had been shut for a few months by then—Mae had celebrated her fifteenth birthday since the closing of the investigation—but nobody had removed the flyer yet. Their reactions were notably different. While Mae's heart was in her throat, the expression adorning Gideon's face was best described as pissed off. Noticing this once they collected themselves and looked at the person they'd crashed into, it dawned on them that they'd met; or rather, it dawned on Gideon while the feelings hit Mae like a ton of bricks. They ended up grabbing their coffees and talking about Aoife. Mae suggested that something may have happened to Aoife, and Gideon shot her down in a tone full of scorn, proclaiming that Aoife had never cared about anybody but herself and that he had no doubt in his mind that she ran off because she thought she was too good for their town. Mae was heartbroken by this view, because she was always a sweet girl, wanting to believe the best in people, and she didn't want to think Aoife even capable of being like that, but moreover, she was a romantic as well, and despite her infatuation with Gideon, she had been quite enchanted with how enamoured he had been with Aoife; seeing the flip side of that affection, how all of that hope and wanting had turned into bitter words and cynicism—it was very distressing for her. And so Mae made it her personal mission to atone for the heartache her cousin had wreaked. She never managed to bury the little voice niggling in the back of her mind that something bad had happened to Aoife, but she learnt not to bring it up in front of Gideon. They continued to talk; she was very different from all he was used to, and while he scorned her a lot—the jaded man a far cry from the boy with stars in his eyes that she met so long ago—he began to depend on her, relying on her presence to make the world suck less. Mae, for her part, was growing up. She was growing into herself, and every day, she looked more and more like her cousin Aoife. Halfway to sixteen and the same kind of bright-eyed beauty as her cousin had been, Mae was the recipient of many a disapproving glance, given that she spent nearly all her spare time with a nineteen year old boy. Even though he was very different to the boy she'd originally fallen for, he was still very much a romantic hero in her eyes; instead of the classic lovelorn boy, he was now the jaded, handsome anti-hero who needed to be taught how to love again. She couldn't help but want him, even when her main desire was to help him, not jump him. The dilemma was solved rather swiftly on the anniversary of Aoife's disappearance, September 29th. It had been over a year since their first meeting—July 6th, Aoife's birthday—and it was two and a half months until Mae turned sixteen, on December 13th. Gideon's birthday took place two weeks before the date of Aoife's disappearance, turning nineteen on the 12th of September. On the anniversary of Aoife's disappearance, the whole town stood still. Mae still firmly believed that Aoife wouldn't just walk out on them and that something must have happened to her, and while nobody would admit to agreeing with her, there was unease in the town that they hadn't heard from her in a year; they'd all assumed that they would be sent some form of reassurance. Gideon was the only one not expecting any, and he could be found drinking and angrily snorting at everyone who still held out hope for the precious princess Aoife Laurent to care about them. Mae had found him in the pub and had dragged him to his apartment when he'd started drunkenly sneering at her, calling her an idiotic idealist who still believed in someone who didn't give a flying fuck about Mae. He was, for the first time, legitimately mean about it all, and Mae found herself surprised, upset and surprisingly—to her, anyhow—angry. She started shouting, for the first time she could remember, about how Aoife was her cousin and how she knew Aoife and loved Aoife and how the feeling was returned because Mae was her family, not some small-town boy with a puppy-crush, and before they knew it, they were shouting at each other, screaming obscenities between tears over Aoife; because it didn't matter what either of them believed was the reason she wasn't there, because at the end of the day, that was the only fact they had: that she wasn't there. Somewhere along the way, they'd started tearing their clothes off and their grief and anger had fuelled them into having sex. It wasn't the way Mae had always dreamed of her first time; she'd wanted to be loved, cherished, adored and held by a man who loved her as much as she loved him. What she got was a fifteen year old girl having sex with a drunk nineteen year old on a futon because they were both grieving about her cousin whom he was still in love with. it didn't matter how she felt about gideon because he didn't feel the same way, and mutual feelings and balance had always been part of her plan for happiness and success. It was awkward, to say the least; Gideon had woken up to realise—once he'd dealt with his hangover—that he'd just had sex with a minor; admittedly, Mae was less than three months off of sixteen, but Gideon himself was nineteen and was aware of how horrific it would appear if it ever wound up in a court. He started avoiding Mae, and for a while, she let him—until she discovered her pregnancy, that is. With no viable options left for her, she tracked down Gideon and refused to let him escape until she told him. His first reaction was disbelief, the second, denial. It took twenty minutes until he'd even acknowledge that she was probably telling the truth. Once he'd accepted it, he looked her straight in the eye and asked her to get an abortion, and she flat-out refused. She was utterly horrified at the idea; she wasn't even sixteen yet and she had no idea how to raise a child, but there was no way in the world she was going to condemn any child to death. She told him so, shocked at how much he'd changed from the pining golden boy she'd met at Aoife's birthday party. He argued, but it was mostly for show, it seemed; Mae thought he was secretly relieved that she'd refused, on some level, because he didn't want that riding on his conscience. Still, they were left in the situation of the underage girl being pregnant to a nineteen year old boy and no way to support themselves. They quickly deduced that Mae's parents would be furious; not only that, but her father was a rigidly law-abiding man and would likely call the authorities on Gideon. They eventually decided to elope, ending up in the town of Bristol. Mae had just turned sixteen when they ran away, and while this was not legal age to marry, Gideon had a few friends with underground contacts and they managed to forge a new identity for her, though that would not be ready until they arrived in Bristol; the whole way there, Mae had to travel under Aoife's old documents—Mae looked strikingly like the Aoife of to years ago, when the photos had been taken, and Aoife was of an appropriate enough age to be pregnant and rushing off with a teenage boy that nobody asked any questions. They settled into Bristol, finding themselves a cheap house and sending the Islingtons a postcard to let them know Mae was safe. Gideon found a job at a local company as a strategist, and Mae spent her days painting people's requests to sell. It was in Bristol that Mae gave birth to a baby boy whom she promptly named Reese Aaron; Reese after Aoife's father and Aaron after Gideon's best friend that had obtained the house for them, as well as aided in her new papers. She was now Maisey Fletcher (née Hutt), Mae for short, as far as her neighbours were concerned. Reese quickly became her pride and joy. A large-eyed child, his smiles reminded her of the first time she met his father; both smiles were genuine, beautiful and seemingly special. Reese smiled much more than Gideon ever had, and for that, she was grateful; the happier he was, she reasoned, the harder the world would find trying to take it away. Gideon even loved his son, though he had missed the birth; of all the coincidences, Reese and Aoife shared their birthday: July 6th. Still, Gideon loved his son, and Mae very much enjoyed seeing that. When Reese was three, his mother gave birth to his little sister, Leah. Reese reveled in Leah's existence, finding her endlessly amusing and always delighting in the reactions he could incite from her via his actions. Mae was less delighted. The birth had taken its toll on her, and she found it exceedingly difficult to remember how to be happy. She found her mind playing on Aoife more and more, imagining all the horrors that could have happened to her; her suspicion of something bad having happened to Aoife now a heart-stopping certainty. She was overwhelmed with guilt for not doing enough, for not saving her cousin, for not convincing everyone that she hadn't just run away, and she began neglecting her children some times because of this—mainly Leah. Mae also began resenting her husband for his endless insistence that Aoife had simply not cared and just ran away—in her state of intense guilt and paranoia, she saw this as cruelty, lying, and direct opposition to what she thought of as the truth, and began seeing him as the enemy. This took its toll on Gideon, and he returned to the drink. By the time Reese was five, his father was an alcoholic and his mother was slowly losing her mind. It wasn't all bad, of course; Mae wasn't permanently paranoid. There was always an element of it to her, following Leah's birth, but she tended to be fairly lucid, only descending into her extremely paranoid/guilty episodes on occasion. The drinking was more constant, but while it made their father unfamiliar some times, it was nowhere near as scary as their mother staring at them and not seeing her children, but ghosts from before they were born. It wasn't until Reese was eight that things got to a point that he realised was not quite normal. His father was fired from his job due to his excessive drinking, and there was no steady income coming in. Mae had stopped painting for profit years ago, claiming that there were too many feelings in her chest and ghosts in her head to paint other people's hauntings on canvas. Luckily, Reese's godfather, Aaron, who'd organised the house and Mae's identity, was still in the picture and helped out, lending the family a loan and keeping them financially afloat. Reese is still, to this day, incredibly grateful for what his godfather did for their family. All his life, Reese had been surrounded by weird incidents; animals seemed drawn to him, water behaved oddly around him and he had a remarkable memory that would have been considered prodigal had he been more talented at other academic pursuits, but he wasn't—not that he was bad, or anything, just not as amazing at every aspect of academia as he was with his memory. Leah had been the same way: plants seemed to take on a life of their own around her, and Reese has many memories of her changing the colours of things around them. So on July 6th, it was surprising, yet not utterly shocking, that he received a letter—and professor—informing him that he was a wizard. He was reluctant to leave Leah alone with his family, but when the professor assured him that Leah would be offered a place too, he was somewhat less resistant. His mother's episodes had become more frequent, and his father's drinking had reached new levels, so Uncle Aaron was practically living with them now. The professor explained to him that Reese had received a scholarship to attend a boarding school up in Scotland, and that once Leah was eleven, she would receive one too. Until then, Aaron had promised to care for Leah, which had greatly eased Reese's mind. He loved his sister and his parents very much, but that didn't extend to him entrusting his parents with his sister's welfare. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, Reese was swiftly sorted into Ravenclaw. He loved it there; he was always learning something new even if not necessarily academic, and his creative pursuits were actively encouraged. Reese soon developed a love for writing, appreciating the influence that words could have. He fit into Ravenclaw well, and very much enjoyed it. When Reese was thirteen, three things of note occurred: one, Leah arrived at Hogwarts. Leah was quickly sorted into Gryffindor, and Reese was ecstatic to see her at school with him. They shared a very friendly relationship, lightly teasing each other in the hallways and playful shoving and teasing. Reese wouldn't have traded his sister for anything, not even normal parents. Speaking of his parents, the second thing of note was his father leaving. Gideon decided to move out to Chicago, USA. He arranged special permission for Reese and Leah to come see him, and he, sober for once, explained to them how he and Mae hadn't been in a real relationship for years and that he couldn't do it anymore, but he'd always love them. Reese felt a bit like it was a cop out, and Leah vocalised that thought, but their father simply sighed, pulled them int a hug and told them he loved them both very much. He said that they would always have a place with him if they needed him, but he had faith in them on their own, and their school was here. Then, he left. Reese felt very numb. He and Leah had sat together in the kitchens for a very long time after that, just comforting one another. It would be okay, and Reese was glad he got to say goodbye, but a part of him will always miss his father and another part will always resent him for not being a good father until right at the end, when he left. The third thing of note was Aaron leaving. Now that both kids were at boarding school and Gideon had left, Aaron felt like he ought to return to his old life. He still wrote to the children, but he'd moved back to his home and he'd put Mae into a home where they took care of people like her, people scared of their own minds. It was all very hard news for Reese to swallow, and he turned to his words then. He wrote and wrote and wrote; some pieces of fiction, some reflective journal-esque writings, some opinions pieces on the world around him, some witty drawings with the dialogue revealing his thoughts. He simply wrote out all his feelings and adrenaline until he could function normally again. He found the process cathartic, and has kept it up ever since. In the summers, Reese and Leah went to visit Aaron, or family friends in Bristol, and sometimes they arranged to stay with their school friends. Reese would sometimes go visit their mother; Leah went once and stormed out in tears, upset by something that she refused to share with her brother. In Mae's lucid moments, she bonded with Reese over their love of creativity, stories and the arts—one thing that could never be denied about Mae Islington was how much she loved her son. When Reese graduated, he immediately got a job while finding the cheapest flat he possibly could. It took him a few months, but eventually he could afford a larger flat, which he shared with a few of his friends and had a couch in his room reserved especially for his sister. She was to stay there each holidays, and she did, except for one: the Easter holidays when she was seventeen, and got knocked up. Reese was very unsure how to react to all of this. Thankfully, she didn't miss any school because it happened so close towards the end of her school career that she was able to finish school and pass her NEWTs. Reese himself was only twenty. He still flatted with his friends because none of them were either capable of or desiring to live by themselves, and he, frankly, belonged to the former. He could barely remember to eat breakfast in the morning, yet his baby sister was having a baby? Henry Morgan Spencer was born when Leah was eighteen and Reese twenty-one. The father, Adam Spencer, wasn't really in the picture at first but Leah assured Reese she liked it that way. Eventually, Leah and Adam got together officially and were set to marry. Reese, in the mean time, had gotten a job as a journalist and was throwing himself entirely into that, while still making time to be a good flatmate, try writing some fiction on the sly and genuinely adoring his little nephew. All of his flatmates did, too. Then, a few months ago, tragedy struck. Leah and Adam had been on a date when the car they were driving had been involved in a head-on collision with a truck. They died instantly. Little Henry had been at his godmother's house, being babysat; Leah's best friend from school, Jennifer, had volunteered to take care of Henry so that his parents didn't have to take him out on one of their last date nights before their wedding. Reese found out by Jennifer calling his phone—which he only owned so as to keep in contact with Aaron—and crying into it at two in the morning. He'd Apparated over to the muggle police station and found Jennifer and Henry there, being briefed by the cops. Reese literally crumpled, falling to the floor, crying. Leah and Adam had been so in love and happy and vibrant and full of life and they had a kid; it just wasn't fair. After a very long night, it turned out that Reese had been entrusted with guardianship of Henry. A red-eyed Jennifer had promised to help in any way she could, despite the duo's somewhat antagonistic relationship preceding the tragedy, and Reese had just sat there, stunned, barely comprehending what was happening until he Apparated to his flat, hugging little Henry tightly to his chest. His flatmates were still up, waiting for him, and he simply handed Henry over to one of them and walked straight into the bathroom, turned on the shower, hopped in, and cried with the hot water streaming down his face and body. After getting out, he returned to the living room of the flat to find Henry sleeping on the couch and the rest of his flatmates watching over the little blonde boy. He—through some choking and tears and hugs from one of his flatmates—eventually got the whole story out and explained the situation, saying he understood if they wanted him to move out and deal with Henry elsewhere, but his friends were all very adamant that he stay there because there was no way he could afford a flat large enough for both him and Henry as well as caring for Henry and all the general logistics; he was their friend, and he needed their help—very much like the old saying of it taking a village to raise a child, his friends pledged to help him out and do their best together, and he had never felt so grateful in his life. Jennifer said the same thing, and despite their bickering while Leah had been alive, Henry was still all she had left of her best friend and she wanted to take care of him as much as Reese did. She was even contemplating finding a flat closer to his, or just moving in with them, in order to help. Reese was very grateful for his friends; due to his wry humour and his enjoyment of creative pursuits such as drawing and writing, he was always decently popular amongst the Ravenclaws of his year, but it's one thing to have school friends and quite another to have ones who would always have your back and would help you care for a kid when you're not convinced you can take care of yourself, and for that, Reese will always be grateful to them. JANE SEVENTEEN GMT+12 |
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