[ pls i'm just excited for this?? ngl i might pull another ancient story from my drafts and rework it

warnings: language, confinement, cruel and unusual punishments, etc

stay safe,
lew. ]

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Bailey, unlike most of the other people here, didn't dread waking up. He had nothing to fear, not anymore. They'd finished their experiments on him years ago, so at least he didn't have to worry about that.

He got up out of bed, idly scratching at one of his ears. He could hear footsteps coming down the hall towards his room, and from the slow pace and timid steps, he knew exactly who it was.

His ears perked up, body already in motion before he could really think about it. He waited by the door, almost shaking with excitement.

The familiar tired eyes and messy hair of his friend Thirteen came into view, and Bailey rubbed his face against the guy's shoulder. "Hey, buddy," he laughed out, suppressing a yawn as he gently ran his fingers through the younger's curls. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good," he murmured, closing his eyes. "You need to sleep more. And stop worrying so much. I can smell the anxiety coming off of you."

"I would if I could. Ready to get breakfast?"

"Yep!"

Thirteen, whose real name was Lewis, easily guided Bailey through getting ready, even making sure his flimsy shoes were on the right feet. The pair had almost reached the cafeteria when Bailey paused.

"Is your friend gonna be there?" He asked. "I  like him."

Lewis blushed, shrugging his shoulders as he rested his hand on the door. "I dunno, Bailey. I'm not sure if he's in trouble again or not."

"I hope he's not. You're happier when he's around." Bailey focused on the sounds just past the door, and given that they always got there early, there wasn't much in the way of identifying sounds. "I can't tell who's in there."

In focusing on that, he didn't hear- or smell- the people coming up behind them. So of course, when a large hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, he let out a startled yelp.

It was followed by warm laughter and Lewis' blush returning in full force, even though he wasn't the one to get scared. The guy was Logan, or Two, someone who'd been here almost as long as Bailey. Lewis had a massive crush on the guy, which Bailey thought was weird. But then again, Lewis knew what living outside of this place was like, and that type of thing might be normal out there.

The agent escorting Logan rolled her eyes and gestured towards the door. Her name tag read 'Siren', then in smaller print, 'Chase Roush'. Looking at her, she seemed to be nothing but harmless, but they all knew better.

Lewis, being awkward and polite, held open the door. Logan thanked him and ruffled his hair as he walked by, Bailey gave him a wide smile, and the agent pushed past like the entitled bitch she was.

Bailey had already grabbed Logan's arm and  started chattering away about something. Every so often, they'd glance back at Lewis, but he didn't mind. It just gave him time to reflect on how fucked up this whole situation was.

He'd been taken from the home he shared with his boyfriend, unable to even leave a note for him. As far as Alex knew, he was dead. And as far as Lewis knew, the only way he'd be leaving this place would be in a body bag.

He got his breakfast and followed Logan and Bailey to their normal table in the center of the room. Two people were already there, looking incredibly bored just like every other morning.

Ronnie and Cody sat at opposite ends of the table, mostly because they couldn't stand each other. (Or, more likely, Cody was just pissy because Ronnie wouldn't help him get any of the security measures off.)

Ronnie had used his ability to sweet-talk the staff into giving him something better than average for breakfast. It seemed to be an actual good brand of cereal rather than the tasteless type everyone else got, along with tea instead of the gross variant of orange juice.

Cody eyed his food jealously as he worked on his ration of dry cereal, considering that he couldn't eat anything like that with his mouth guard and mittens. Plus, he just seemed jealous of Ronnie no matter what the situation was.

(Cody's a lil bitch.)

Lewis sat down beside Bailey, and Logan chose to be next to Ronnie. Without a word, Ronnie pushed his cereal to Bailey, whose eyes went wide.

"I don't know if I can have this-"

"It's safe. I already checked. Please take it, or I'll consider actually eating it."

Bailey practically vibrated with excitement, rocketing out of his seat to give Ronnie a hug and quick peck on the cheek. "You're so awesome, you're the best, I love you dude."

He forced a smile and patted the younger man's cheek. "Hurry up and eat."

Lewis thanked him softly, adding, "I'm telling you because he's too excited to remember manners."

Cody chose then to add, "Must be nice to get whatever you want."

"For the last time, you're stuck with those accessories for the safety of yourself and everyone else. I'm not letting your little gremlin crew kill everyone because you can't control your gift," Ronnie sighed, tired of dealing with him already.

"I'm just saying, you could be nice and use your gift to help people out-"

"One more word, and I'll get your protocol changed so you can't speak."

Fortunately, Cody wasn't that stupid, so he picked up his tray and left.

"He scares me," Bailey murmured, ears flattened into his hair.

Logan offered him a smile, reassuring the guy. "We wouldn't let him do anything. If his little shadow demons got out, Ronnie could convince the guards to turn up the lights enough that I could use them."

Lewis' hand stayed on Bailey's shoulder, but his eyes remained on Logan. He got this dreamy little smile on his lips, obviously zoning out. No one else paid him any mind, just leaving him to do whatever.

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[ i'm living for this au tbh

my favorite part is: (cody's a lil bitch.)