Lmao, yeahhh, and, if Nico knew at that point they'd just be, like, biting his tounge while also just thinking "wrong person to ask, guys, I don't think Vinny will be as helpful as you assume-"

-

Ooo, both good choices.

Hmm, I'm fine with either one, they both sound fun, but we'll say the shower idea first :)

Garvin meanwhile is totally thinking "Ah, yeah, easy" because he literally has does not realize how bad his understanding is of it.

He would hate being there for the conversation though. Like, oh boy, the fact that the conversation itself could end up being a trigger for him. Because the one time Akira or Revan accidentally go about saying, "And if someone's doing something you don't like" suddenly we got Garvin trying not to react as trauma hits him upside the head.

-

Fun, fun- Alright then!

Nico and Garvin both retraumatizing themselves during what's supposed to be a helpful, productive talk, lmao

Akira and Revan: "And what do we do if someone's doing something we don't like/want....?"

Nico, shutting down mentally and going autopilot with responses: "Stay quiet and do whatever they want, it's easier that way."

Akira and Revan: "W- wait, no. We don't do that!... Garvin, you good?"

Garvin, disassociating: "Yup... Yup, 'm good. Don' worry 'bout me..."

Nico, literally staring blankly ahead and speaking in a fully monotone voice: "It's over faster if you just cooperate, otherwise everything hurts more. They'll get angry... Don't make them angry."

Akira and Revan: *Pure fear and anger*

Literally exactly what would happen-

It'd get worse if it was at that point that they ask Garvin, thinking maybe their street rat friend can tell Nico to beat them up instead. To get away. To do something.

Only for Garvin to respond with an weirdly toned "It depends?"

Like- They assume the dissociation is because of a time where he hadn't been able to get away or something, not because of grooming and they just- They look at Garvin and try to get him to answer, to help explain to Nico that what they said is definitely not what they should do, and when he does answer it's just. "It depends?" and suddenly they're confused and worried. Because what does that even mean? But they ask what it depends on and Garvin just stares at them as he goes quiet for a second, shrugs, and says "A lot of things?"

Yeahhh, honestly, I feel like if any of the others ever realize the full extent of what Garvin and Nico went through, there's gonna be a problem. Like, obviously revenge will be wanted (especially with Akira) but, also, I feel like they've both went through so much it'd definitely end up traumatizing the others

Which is why everything will definitely also be avoided and downplayed constantly

However, in this situation, though no explicit details would be shared, uh... Nico would get kinda scary. Especially considering his normal personality.

I mean, full on dead stare, completely monotone voice, and really hunched posture. They aren't thinking at all, just going on autopilot and restating the things she's been taught, the "rules," and whatnot.

I mean, we talk about Adiar, and, while he was absolutely the worst one, he wasn't the only abuser, and Nico was taught these lessons (in different ways) throughout the entirety of her life. Especially with sexual relationships and such. I mean, the first incident took place they were five.

My guy's not even capable of pretending to recite rules/ideas that don't align with how he's been taught (in terms of how others should treat her, that is, obviously it's different for others). Which is why we cat a scary Nico that probably freaks out Akira and Revan because "what the actual fuck just happened" Lmao

Oh for sure. Everyone's going to want revenge and everyone's going to be traumatized. I mean, jeez. Yeah. Everything definitely gets downplayed and avoided by these two constantly.

I don't even want to share when the first incident took place with Garvin. That's just. Oh boy. I will say, he was one of the younger victims in the orphanage. So. Uhm. Do with that what you will.

But either way-

Garvin probably wouldn't get scary like that. Really, it's hard to get him to actually start going over what he learned. In any capacity. He's sure certain that what he's been taught is what everyone's been taught (or at least the majority of people) that he's much more likely to gloss over things if he says anything at all.

Which is another reason why getting information from him about anything that happened to him is difficult. Because even if he starts listening to what others are saying and realizes that they don't have the same understanding of consent and whatnot as he does, he's more likely to assume that they're the exception. The minority.

Which is in and of itself something he was groomed into believing, especially by Fintan. Easier to keep someone in line if they think what's happening is normal and that the majority of people go through it, after all.

Really, the only person to ever make any progress into getting information out of Garvin is Devery. And Levy's gotten years of experience dealing with him with a lot of their meetings either being at Devery's bar or Devery's apartment. And most of the times at Devery's apartment were during July. So he's gotten good at the tactics that make Garvin more likely to open up.

So, small little spoiler, Devery knows about Fintan. He recommends not bringing it up with Garvin ever though. Especially if they decide to try and tell Garvin that Fintan had been grooming him. It will not go over well.

Anyways.

Very likely that Garvin would be the hardest one to figure stuff out about. Really the only three proven ways that work are-

1) Push him until he spirals in an argument. Nothing is held back, details will be given. But you also have no control over what he chooses to go over or bring up.

2) Witness it happening so he can't hide it or lie about it. He will still try.

3) Devery's tactics. By far the best choice.

And the short story is done. It is very messy. I apologize. Now for the hair dye one next haha-

-

Prompt; No prompt, just Garvin dealing with trauma and getting triggered. Oops.
Characters; Garvin, Ingall, Revan, Nico, and Akira.
Word Count; 1,350.
TWs; Dissociation, panic attacks, self worth issues, flashbacks, messy writing all around (oh no), swearing, yelling, past child abuse, implied child abuse, past sexual abuse, implied sexual abuse, past physical abuse, past victim blaming, past verbal abuse, past dehumanization, past emotional abuse, pedophilia, implied rape/non-con, underage rape/non-com, past rape/non-con, and… Maybe more? Hard to say.
Notes; Uhm… Yeah. The flashback is of the first major guy that took him in, aka Rudy Keegan. Anyways. Uh. Oh, right, throughout the flashback, he’s basically doing the exact same things up until he raises his hands up. Then he just kind of stays there. There is no resolution. Akira is the one that walked into the bathroom. Enjoy!
*~*~*~*
The day had started out fine. Really, Garvin would’ve even said it was a good day. It had been a good day. For everyone. Like things were finally looking up. Polaris had been reading to them about stars for hours, showing no signs of stopping any time soon. Sirius, though holding a cup of coffee, had put away his laptop and phone, reading a book of his own. Vega was asking questions, playing with Crescent’s hair as he read. Altair was leaning against him, just as caught up in the moment as he was. So, yeah, it had started out as a good day. A simple, lazy, and good day in.
-
Go figure he’d be the one to ruin it.
-
He was in the bathroom now, sitting on the lid of the toilet and listening to the sound of the showers’ running water. It hadn’t been on for very long yet, he’d really only just turned it on. He should’ve already been under it and showering though. Not sitting and staring at his hands, tracing the vines on his knuckles with his eyes to distract himself from the way his skin was crawling and his head was pounding. He hadn’t even taken off his clothes yet. But the water was on and he couldn’t manage to make himself get up.
-
So he sat there, trying not to think about how he could feel hands on him, trying not to think about how much water was being wasted with every passing second. He wasn’t even sure why this was happening. Nothing had happened today. It had been a good day. He didn’t have time for whatever this was. Niki had been making food when he first came in here. He didn’t have time to just… Sit and stare.
-
But his head was pounding behind his eyes and his skin kept crawling with hands that weren’t his and he didn’t think he was breathing the way he should be. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before he stood. He didn’t even remember standing, just that he had at some point.
-
He blinked and he was standing under the water, staring at some part of the wall. The water was hotter than he usually let it get. Wasting water was bad on its own, heated water was worse. He couldn’t get himself to switch it over to cold water though. The heat was almost helpful, as if it could somehow burn away the hands on him. It couldn’t, he knew it couldn’t. But it helped enough that he wasn’t able to let it go yet. So he kept his eyes on the wall, focusing on just scrubbing and scratching at his skin, following wherever the crawling feeling went to try and just get rid of it.
-
It was easy enough to get into a rhythm with it, to let his mind slip away from him at least. It didn’t change that he wasn’t really supposed to be doing this. A deep clean sort of shower wasn’t his thing. Wasn’t supposed to be his thing. He was using way too much water. He really shouldn’t be doing this.
-
A hand ghosting over his thigh made him bite his tongue and take a sharp, shaky breath. Whether he should be doing this or not, he couldn’t bring himself to turn the water off and stop. Not with the hand grabbing his hip, not with the hand that was now making its way up along his inner thigh. He tapped his foot against the floor of the shower and kept scrubbing at his skin, eyes staring at the wall as if looking away would only show him that the creeping hands weren’t just in his mind.
-
He wasn’t sure how long he spent scrubbing, just that the water had started to lose its heat by the time it happened. He didn’t hear the knocking, the concerned voice asking if he was alright, the sound drowned out by the water in his ears, cotton in his head, and hands trailing his back. But he did hear when the door opened. He heard the telltale creaking from the hinges and, for a moment, everything stopped, heart lurching.
-
He blinked and turned off the water. His fingers were pruned and peeling, his skin was raw. He should’ve gotten out already. He shouldn’t have been in the shower to begin with. He should’ve locked the door. Why hadn’t he locked the door? It was too late to hide. He couldn’t— He turned, eyes wide and searching. A hand pulled back the shower curtain.
-
(“Hey… Vinny… Are you alright?”)
-
“Hey! The fuck do you think you’re doing?!”
-
He stumbled back, slipping on the wet floor of the tub and trying to catch himself as he went down. He almost didn’t notice as head hit a corner, still scrambling as his back hit the wall, staring as the man stepped in. He thought he had time. He shouldn’t have tried it. He should’ve at least locked the door so he couldn’t get in. He’d have been able to hide then.
-
“Didn’t I fucking tell you not to waste the damn water on your filth, rat!?”
-
He pushed back against the wall, hands and feet still scraping against the ground trying to move farther away. He knew better. He was supposed to know better. He was still dealing with bruises from throughout the past week, the past month. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t. He’d already dealt with it today, he wasn’t supposed to deal with it twice in one day. But the man was getting closer and it was either this or be thrown out and he couldn’t—
-
A hand reached out towards him and he brought his arms up, feet still trying to push himself away. It didn’t do anything. It never did anything. He wasn’t supposed to fight back, he wasn’t supposed to try and get away. The hand reaching for him grabbed one of his arms and pulled it away from his head, another hand already grabbing his hair. He choked back the tears already trying to fall and kicked out one of his legs.
-
For a second, the man let go of him, and he went back to scrambling, almost starting to push himself up to try and run. The moment passed though, and he was grabbed by the hair at the side of his head, another hand on the leg that had kicked, holding him down. The hand in his hair pulled his head to the side and he couldn’t choke back the whine in his throat. He kicked out his other foot, it missed, and then the hand holding his hair slammed his head into the metal spout next to him.
-
He groaned at the impact, though the sound of his head hitting it was almost the worst part, loud and close and leaving his ears ringing. The hand let go of his hair, his head lolled and he couldn’t— He couldn’t focus. Breathing seemed harder. He wanted out. He could feel tears falling now, but he couldn’t focus past the man’s pants coming down. By the time they were off, he could barely make out what was being said to him.
-
“Stop with your damn crying! I can’t believe you’re making me do this for a second time today! Do you enjoy it, is that it?! Are you such a fucking freak that you like it when I do this?!”
-
He wanted to open his mouth and say no, wanted to shake his head, wanted to do something that would stop this but— He couldn’t, his mouth wasn’t listening to him and he couldn’t really move and he couldn’t even focus enough to tell exactly where the man was. His ears were ringing. His head hurt. His body hurt. He didn’t want this but he couldn’t even say anything and— He whimpered as one hand grabbed his chin and another grabbed his hip.
-
“If you didn’t want this then you should’ve just learned to listen by now. It’s not that fucking hard to do.”

double post???

I didn't even realize it posted again.

Triple post????

Nahhh

How did it post this many times over a four day period???

The more I look at that short story, the less I like it.

-

Anyways though-

The hair dye short story (novel) has 3,440 words so far and isn't even done yet.